Shakyamuni Buddha - The King of Glorious Sutras called the Exalted Sublime Golden Light A Mahayana Sutra (Ārya Suvarņaprabhāsottamasūtrendrarājamahāyānasūtra) - 21 Chapter Version

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In the language of India: rya Suvaraprabhsottamastrendrarjamahynastra

In the language of Tibet: phag pa ser dam pa do de'i wang po'i gyl po she ja wa theg pa chen po'i do

Homage to all past, future and present buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas and shravakas!

Thus I have heard at one time:
The Tathagata, entering buddhas' domain
Of experience, the profound sphere of reality,
At Vulture Peak expounded
To the supreme bodhisattvas,
Who were pure and stainless,
This King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light,
Which is extremely profound upon hearing
And profound upon examination.

The buddhas in the four directions
Confer their blessings: blessings
From Akshobhya in the east, Ratnaketu in the south,
Amitabha in the west and Dundubhisvara in the north.

In order to extinguish all unwholesome deeds
I will proclaim this auspicious sublime discourse
That exhausts all negative karma,
Grants all peace and happiness,
Completely eliminates suffering,
Which is adorned with all that is glorious
And is the foundation of omniscience.
Granting blessings, this I shall explain.
Sentient beings whose senses are defective,
Whose life expectancy has ended or is fading,
Whom the gods have turned against,
Who are burdened by misfortune,
Hated by their loved ones,
Or oppressed as household servants,
In conflict with one another,
Afflicted with decline in material wealth,
Grief-stricken and miserable,
Ridden with fear and stricken by poverty,
Troubled by stars, planetary bodies
And fierce demonic spirits,
Or who see excruciating nightmares
Following grief and fatigue,
They should bathe well to render themselves clean
And listen to this sublime sutra.

Should those with virtuous intent and pure mind
Adorn themselves well in clean garments,
Then listen to this sutra on the profound,
The domain of buddhas' experience,
Through the awe-inspiring power of this sutra,
The suffering of all creatures
The likes of which cannot be endured
Will be forever pacified.

Protection will be offered to them
By the guardians of the world,
Their ministers and army chiefs,
Tens of thousands of millions of yakshas,
The great goddess Sarasvati,
And the goddess who dwells in the Nairanjana,
By Hariti, mother of bhutas,
The earth goddess Drdha,
By the Brahma kings and kings of the Thirty-Three,
The powerful kings of serpents,
Kings of kinnaras and kings of asuras,
Likewise by the kings of garudas.

They, with their clans and might will arrive,
Along with their mounts,
And unfailingly day and night,
Offer protection to beings.
I will clearly expound this sutra on the profound,
The domain of buddhas' experience,
The secret of all buddhas,
Difficult to find in tens of millions of eons.

Those who hear this sutra,
Those who cause others to hear it,
Those who rejoice upon hearing
And make offerings to it,
For tens of millions of eons
Shall be venerated by gods and nagas,
Humans and kinnaras,
Asuras and yakshas.

For beings without merit,
The store of their merit
Will grow into a limitless,
Incalculable, inconceivable mass.

Fiercely they will be protected
By buddhas in the ten directions;
Likewise, also by bodhisattvas
Engaged in the profound.

Clad in clean garments,
Wearing well-perfumed clothes,
Possessing a mind firm with love,
Without distraction, one should honor this sutra.

Render the mind spotless,
Put forth effort to make it expansive
And intensely clear,
Then listen to this sublime sutra.

Those who listen to this sutra
Will be acclaimed among humans,
Attain an excellent human existence
And live a life of comfort.

Those into whose ears
This sublime discourse is echoed,
Will have merit roots refined
And numerous buddhas will extol them.

This ends the first chapter, the Chapter on the Preamble to the King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light.

Furthermore, at that time, during that period, in the great city of Rajagriha, there dwelt the bodhisattva, the great being Ruchiraketu, who had venerated previous buddhas, cultivated roots of virtue and rendered service to mant hundreds of thousands of millions of buddhas. He thought to himself, "What cause and what condition will cause the Lord Shakyamuni to live for only eighty years? That is such a short life." Furthermore, he thought, "The Lord has himself declared: 'There are two causes and two conditions which prolong life. What are the two? They are namely renouncing killing and giving food wholly.' As for the Lord Shakyamuni, he renounced killing for many incalculable hundreds of thousands of millions of eons. He perfectly adhered to the path of the ten virtuous actions. He gave away food and external and internal objects completely. Not only that, he satisfied hungry living beings with the flesh, blood, bones and marrow of his own body."

Then, while this sublime being entertained such thoughts with regard to the Tathagata, his house transformed into a vast and expansive palace made of lapis lazuli, embellished with numerous divine jewels, its color transformed by the Tathagata and filled with perfumes surpassing those of gods. In the four directions emerged four thrones made of divine jewels. These thrones came to be covered with mats of divine jewels and fine cotton raiment, and on those thrones appeared divine lotuses adorned with numerous jewels, their color transformed by the Tathagata. From those lotuses arose four Transcendent Victor Buddhas. In the east appeared the Tathagata Akshobhya; in the south appeared the Tathagata Ratnaketu; in the west appeared the Tathagata Amitayus; and in the north appeared the Tathagata Dundubhisvara. When those tathagatas appeared on those lion thrones, the great city of Rajagriha was filled with bright light. That light pervaded all the triple thousand, great thousand world systems, world systems in the ten directions and world systems as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges river. In addition, divine flowers rained down and divine music resounded. Through the power of the Buddha, all sentient beings in the triple thousand, great thousand worlds too became possessed of the joy of the gods. Beings whose senses were incomplete became possessed of complete senses; beings blind from birth saw forms with the eyes; deaf beings heard sounds with the ears; insane beings regained their sanity; distracted beings became focused; naked beings became clothed in garments; hungry beings became full-bellied; thirsty beings were quenched; beings afflicted with illness became free of disease; beings whose bodily organs were defective became possessed of complete organs. Many astounding events took place in the world.

Upon seeing those buddhas, the bodhisattva Ruchiraketu was greatly astounded. He was satiated, pleased, joyful and delighted. Feeling happy and ecstatic, with hands folded in the direction of the tathagatas, he bowed in homage, remembering those tathagatas. Then, reflecting on the qualities of the Tathagata Shakyamuni Buddha, he was vexed with misgiving about the lifespan of the Tathagata Shakyamuni Buddha. He wondered, "How is it that the Lord Shakyamuni will live a brief life of only eighty years?"