Ancient Buddhism in Japan, Vol. 2

CHAPTER XI.

THE GOLDEN LIGHT SUTRA original: Konkwōmyōkyō; Sanskrit: Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra (DHARMARAKṢA II's TRANSLATION, NANJŌ No. 127) AND THE GOLDEN LIGHT SUTRA OF VICTORIOUS KINGS original: Konkwōmyō-saishōōkyō (I-TSING's TRANSLATION, NANJŌ No. 126). JAPANESE BUDDHISM IN GENERAL IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY.

This sutra, translated between 414 and 423 AD by Dharmaraksha II, is—as Nanjō (No. 127) notes—"an earlier and incomplete translation of No. 126, the Golden Light Sutra of Victorious Kings original: Konkwōmyō Saishōōkyō (commonly called the Sutra of Victorious Kings original: Saishōōkyō, and translated between 700 and 712 AD by I-tsing; consisting of 10 volumes original: fascicles and 31 chapters). In China, this is the most popular translation, having two famous commentaries of the Tiantai original: T'ien-t'ai school, namely Nos. 1548 and 1552."

In Chapter I, Section 8, pages 14–16, we discussed its use in Japan during the 7th century, along with its different translations and Tiantai commentaries. In Chapter VIII, Section 7, pages 263 and following original: sqq., we examined the passages of the Golden Light Sutra and the Sutra of Victorious Kings concerning the doctrine of repentance. In Chapter VIII, Section 15, pages 309 and following, we provided the meaning and the history of the Rites of Repentance for Good Fortune original: Kichijō-kekwa or "Rites of Repentance in worship of the Goddess Fortune original: Devī Śrī," which are based upon the Sutra of Victorious Kings.

According to Nanjō's terminology, the Golden Light Sutra consists of 4 volumes original: fasciculi and 19 chapters (indicated by the characters 卷, kwan, and 品, hon; in the present work, these are usually translated as "volumes" and "sections").¹

It is divided as follows (we will omit the word hon, meaning section).

¹ Regarding the Lotus Sutra, we translate hon as "chapter" and kwan as "volume" original: fasciculus.