thumb|250px|A Japanese handscroll of the Golden Light Sutra (J: Konkōmyōkyō).

The Golden Light Sutra (Sanskrit: , lit. Sublime Golden Light Sutra; Chinese: 金光明經, Jin guangming jing) is a Mahayana Buddhist scripture, which has been important as an apotropaic and purificatory text. A significant portion of the sutra is directed at monarchs or involves supernatural protection and it has thus been an important source for Buddhist states and rulers who wish to protect themselves and their nations.

The title of the sutra comes from the central fourth chapter, in which a lay bodhisattva named Ruciraketu sees a shining golden drum in a dream. The drum emanates light and a hundred-verse prayer to the Buddha when beaten. Much of the subsequent sutra teaches the recitation of this prayer along with devotion to the Golden Light Sutra itself.

Divine protection is yet another key teaching of the text, which explains how numerous divine beings, including the Four Heavenly Kings, the goddess of the earth, Sarasvatī, and Śrī, will protect those who recite the prayer and the sutra. The sutra remains influential in East Asian Buddhism.

The sutra opens with the Buddha at Vulture Peak praising the powers of the Golden Light Sutra itself to protect from calamities, disease and misfortune, which represents the very Dharmadhātu itself, the "profound range of buddhas" (gaṃbhīra buddhagocara). Ruchiraketu then hears a verse prayer (also called the "Golden Light"). The prayer is at once a wish for the happiness of all beings, a confession of one's bad deeds and a praise of the Buddha. This confession verse is said to have the power to destroy the bad karma of a thousand eons in a single recitation. The chapter also ends by saying that those who hear this verse have already served thousands of buddhas in the past. In particular, a ruler who honors and protects the preachers of the sutra and sponsors ritual recitations of the sutra will acquire divine protection and virtuous qualities. Preachers of the sutra themselves will also be protected by deities and become imbued with the powers of the Golden Light Sutra. During the ceremony, offerings are made to the Buddhas as well as the twenty-four devas as a sign of respect. This ceremony has been carried down through tradition into modern times and is customarily performed in Chinese Buddhist temples on the 9th day of the 1st month of the Chinese calendar. Yijing (635-713) was influential in popularising the Golden Light Sutra. His translation became the basis for later translations into Tibetan, Uighur, Sogdian and Tangut editions.

Textual history

A Sanskrit edition of the sutra exists, it was first edited by S. C. Das and S. C. Shastri in 1898 (Calcutta). This was followed by a new edition by B. Nanjio and H. Idzumi (Japan, 1931). Various other Sanskrit fragments (up to 80) have also been found. The Sanskrit text was translated into English by Emmerick (1970).

The Golden Light is mentioned in numerous Indic works (three tantras and ten commentaries) as an important text for ritual recitation. Various other Buddhist texts mention it as an important text to be recited, including Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya. Tangut, Classical Tibetan, Mongolian, Manchu, Korean and Japanese.

Chinese

thumb|11th~13th century, chrysographic Tangut version

thumb|Jeweled pagoda mandala from a copy of the Golden Light Sutra. Japan, [[Heian period, 12th century.]]

Three canonical Chinese translations have survived:

  • Jin guangming jin (金光明經, Golden Light Sutra T663) translated by Dharmakṣema (385–433)
  • Hebu jin guangming (合部金光明經, Collated Sūtra of Golden Light T664), a synoptic edition by Baogui (寶貴) c. 597 which supplements T663 with two other translations attributed to Paramārtha and Jñānagupta.
  • Jin guangming zuisheng wang jin (金光明最勝王經, Most Victorious King of Golden Light Sūtra; T665), translated by Yijing (635–713). This thirty one chapter version became the most popular edition in East Asian Buddhism.

An extracanonical version, ascribed to Paramārtha, (499–569) is extant in a Japanese manuscript.

Japanese

One of the earliest Japanese annotations was an 8th-century kunten translation of the Yijing Chinese translation housed in Saidaiji Temple.

Tibetan

There are at least three main canonical Tibetan translations which reflect the growth of the sutra over time:

Western languages

In 1958, Nobel published a German translation, based on Yijing's Chinese text.

In 1970, R. E. Emmerick produced an English translation of the short, condensed Sanskrit version of the Sutra of Golden Light into English.

In 2007, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Buddhist organization, produced a translation of the 21 chapter version of the Tibetan translation, the most abbreviated and condensed version. In 2023, 84000.co published a translation of the 21 chapter version, followed in 2024 by the first English translations of the 29 and 31 chapter versions.

Commentaries

Various commentaries on the sutra were composed in China, including: