English (machine translation)

Translation of 金光明最勝懺儀

Language: English
Extent: 51 passages, 2,856 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.1946 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

1 — 51 parts

Text

1.1

Compiled by the Śramaṇa Zhili of Siming, Transmitter of Tiantai Teachings and Contemplation under the Song

1.3

With single mind I bow my head in reverence to the permanently abiding Three Jewels of the ten directions. (After one bow, kneel with the right knee touching the ground, hold the censer, and say:)

"May this cloud of incense and flowers fill the realms of the ten directions to offer to all Buddhas, the revered Dharma, the bodhisattvas, the assemblies of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and all heavenly seers, accepted and used to perform the Buddha-work." Having made the offering, all veneration. (After one bow, kneel again and invoke, saying:)

1.5

"With single mind I summon and invoke: Namo our Fundamental Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha, Akṣobhya and the four Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones of the east, Ratnapuṣpa, Vaiḍūrya, Prabhūtaratna Buddha, and the others, exhaustively including all Buddhas within the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra and throughout the ten directions and the three times." (Three invocations, one bow.)

1.6

"With single mind I summon and invoke: Namo the Ocean of the Mahāyāna Suvarṇaprabhāsa, the Twelve Divisions of the Canon." (After three invocations, one bow.)

1.7

"With single mind I summon and invoke: Namo Ruciraketu Bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva, Suvarṇaprabhāsa Bodhisattva, Suvarṇagarbha Bodhisattva, Sadāprarudita, Dharmodgata, and exhaustively all bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the Saṅgha of worthies and noble ones within the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra and throughout the ten directions and the three times." (After three invocations, one bow.)

1.8

"With single mind I summon and invoke: Namo the revered Great Brahmā Deva, the Trayastriṃśa devas, the Four Kings who protect the world, Vajraguhyaka, the Great General Saṃjñāya, the Great Sarasvatī Devi, Marīci Devi, the god Skanda, the firm Earth Deity Dṛḍhā, the Bodhi-tree Deity, the Hārītī Mother of Ghost Children and her five hundred attendants—all of whom are great bodhisattvas and so forth—as well as all the efficacious shrines of the famous mountains and great rivers of this realm, the spirits belonging to the territory of this prefecture, and all the noble assembly of spirits guarding this monastery and protecting the true Dharma." (After three invocations, one should not bow.)

1.9

"With single mind I summon and invoke: Namo the Great Merit Goddess of Foremost Majestic Virtue and Accomplisher of All Tasks."

1.10

(For this position, after the assembly chants the three invocations, they do not bow; laypeople must bow. One should join the palms and recite the dhāraṇī:)

1.12

"The Buddha's face is like the pure full moon, / And also like a thousand suns radiating light; / His eyes are pure, long and wide like blue lotus blossoms, / His teeth white, even, and close like conch-shell snow. / The Buddha's virtues are boundless like the great ocean, / In which limitless wonderful treasures are gathered; / The water of wisdom and virtue is ever brimming, / Filled entirely with hundreds of thousands of superior samādhis. / The wheel marks on the soles of his feet are all adorned, / Hub and web with a thousand spokes are all completely even; / The webbing of his hands and feet is everywhere adorned, / Fully equipped with the marks like the king of geese. / The Buddha's body shines equal to a mountain of gold, / Pure, extraordinary, and without peer; / Also like Sumeru, full of merit, / Therefore I bow my head to the Buddha, the king of mountains. / His primary and secondary marks are like empty space, immeasurable, / Exceeding a thousand suns radiating light, / All like flames and illusions, inconceivable, / Therefore I bow my head with a mind free of attachment."

1.13

(After the praise, one should state the purpose; one must join the palms in reverence and have the assembly chant in a level tone three times, saying:)

1.14

"Namo Ratnapuṣpavaiḍūrya Buddha; namo the Mahāyāna Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra; namo the Great Merit Goddess of Foremost Majestic Virtue and Accomplisher of All Tasks." (After three recitations like this, next reverently make the offering, focused on imagining facing them, and afterwards state the text. At other times, omit the food and drink, keep it clean and according to the rules, and repeat the scattering words; merely say from "Incense and flowers" up to "jointly perfecting the wisdom of all modes" and stop, then immediately bow to the Buddhas.)

1.15

"Now in my bodhimaṇḍa I arrange offerings: lighting various lamps, burning various incenses, and offering various foods and drinks, pure and according to the rules, reverently held and offered to all Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones, Mahāyāna scriptures, and all the Three Jewels of bodhisattvas, worthies, and noble ones; moreover, separately preparing incense, flowers, food, and drink to present to the Great Goddess of Merit, Mahāsarasvatī, the Four Kings, Brahmā and Śakra, and the noble assembly of the eight classes of devas and nāgas; further, taking food and drink and scattering them to the remaining directions to bestow upon the various spirits and so forth. We only wish that the Three Jewels and heavenly seers will have pity on me and all sentient beings, accept this offering, and through the power of the Suvarṇaprabhāsa and the majestic power of the Buddhas, in a single thought-moment manifest throughout all Buddha-lands of the ten directions, filling them like clouds and universally moistening them like rain, extensively performing Buddha-work, equally perfuming sentient beings, causing them to generate the bodhicitta and jointly perfect the wisdom of all modes." (This should also be expressed according to one's wish and need not strictly recite these words. Having said these words, take the food and drink to a pure place outside the bodhimaṇḍa, scatter them in the four directions, and first say these words:)

1.16

"Now, in accordance with the teachings, I make offerings to the Mahāyāna Three Jewels and the Great Auspicious Goddess; holding these various foods and drinks, I scatter and sprinkle them in all directions to bestow upon all spirits. May all spirits, in their majestic sovereignty, gather universally in a single thought-moment, each receiving the Dharma-food to fullness without lack, their bodily strength valiant and their protection firm and strong; knowing what I seek, may they grant it accordingly, dedicating this blessed benefit to universally moistening living beings, that their karmic fruit may naturally be the constant reception of supreme bliss." (Having completed this prayer-vow, immediately scatter the food in the four directions, imagining limitless ghosts and spirits all coming to receive the food. At that time, either recite the previous dhāraṇī or merely say "Namo Śrīmahādevī", until the food is exhausted as the measure. When scattering and sprinkling are finished, return to the bodhimaṇḍa and bow to the Buddhas.)

1.17

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to our Fundamental Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha."

1.18

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Akṣobhya Buddha of the east."

1.19

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Ratnaketu Buddha of the south."

1.20

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Amitāyus Buddha of the west."

1.21

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Dundubhisvaranirghoṣa Buddha of the north."

1.22

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Ratnapuṣpavaiḍūrya Buddha."

1.23

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Prabhūtaratna Buddha."

1.24

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Vimalabhrājitaketuratnaprabhāsa Buddha."

1.25

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇajvalanaprabhāsa Buddha."

1.26

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇaśataprabhāsāvabhāsagarbha Buddha."

1.27

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇaparvataratnachattra Buddha."

1.28

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇapuṣpajvalanaprabhāsalakṣaṇa Buddha."

1.29

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Mahāpradīpa Buddha."

1.30

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Ratnaketu Buddha."

1.31

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to exhaustively all Buddhas within the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra and throughout the ten directions and the three times."

1.32

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to the Ocean of the Mahāyāna Suvarṇaprabhāsa, the Twelve Divisions of the Canon." (Three bows.)

1.33

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Ruciraketu Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.34

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.35

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.36

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇaprabhāsa Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.37

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Suvarṇagarbha Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.38

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Sadāprarudita Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.39

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to Dharmodgata Bodhisattva-mahāsattva."

1.40

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to exhaustively all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas within the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra and throughout the ten directions and the three times."

1.41

"With single mind I bow my head in reverence to the Saṅgha of worthies and noble ones, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas such as Śāriputra and the others."

1.42

"Universally on behalf of all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm, wishing completely to sever and eliminate the three obstructions, I take refuge and repent." (One bow, cultivating contemplation of the ten backward and forward minds.)

1.43

"I, the monk [name], take refuge and bow my head to all Buddhas of the present in the ten directions who have already attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, turning the wonderful wheel of the Dharma, upholding and illuminating the wheel of the Dharma, raining down the great Dharma-rain, beating the great Dharma-drum, blowing the great Dharma-conch, erecting the great Dharma-banner, and holding the great Dharma-torch; for the sake of benefiting and giving peace and joy to all sentient beings, constantly bestowing the gift of Dharma, guiding forward the multitude of deluded beings, and causing them to attain the great fruit and realize eternal bliss. To such Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones, with body, speech, and mind, I bow my head in sincere refuge, wholeheartedly paying homage to those World-Honoured Ones who, with real wisdom and real eye, real testimony and real equanimity, completely know and completely see the good and evil karma of all sentient beings. From beginningless birth and death onward, drifting along with evil, I, together with sentient beings, have created transgressions of karmic obstructions, entangled by greed, anger, and delusion; when not yet knowing the Buddha, not yet knowing the Dharma, not yet knowing the Saṅgha, not yet knowing good and evil, through body, speech, and mind I committed the sins of immediate retribution, shed the Buddha's blood with an evil mind, slandered the true Dharma, broke the harmony of the Saṅgha, killed arhats, killed and harmed father and mother, performed the three physical, four verbal, and three mental actions, created the ten unwholesome karmas, committing them oneself, teaching others to do so, and rejoicing when seeing them done; leveled slanderous accusations against good people; cheated with peck-measures and scales, taking the false for true; bestowed impure food and drink upon all; brought mutual affliction and harm upon all parents in the six destinies; or stole the property of stūpas, the property of the Saṅgha of the four directions, and the property of the present Saṅgha, using it at will; took no joy in practicing the World-Honoured One's Vinaya rules, and failed to comply with the instructions of teachers and elders; upon seeing practitioners of the śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and Mahāyāna paths, delighted in reviling and insulting them, causing those practitioners to generate regret and vexation; upon seeing those superior to oneself, harbored jealousy; constantly gave rise to stinginess regarding the gift of Dharma and the gift of wealth; covered by ignorance, with false views confusing the mind, did not cultivate good causes but caused evil to increase; gave rise to slander against the Buddhas, calling Dharma what is not Dharma and calling what is not Dharma Dharma. Such multitude of sins the Buddhas completely know and completely see with real wisdom, real eye, real testimony, and real equanimity. Now taking refuge before the Buddhas, I expose them all and dare not conceal them; sins not yet committed I will not commit again, and sins already committed I now repent of all. The karmic obstructions created deserving rebirth in the evil destinies—hells, animals, and hungry ghosts—among the asura hosts and in the eight places of difficulty: may all my karmic obstructions in this life be extinguished, and all evil retributions in the future not be received. Just as all great bodhisattvas of the past who cultivated the bodhisattva practices repented of all their karmic obstructions, my karmic obstructions I also now repent of, fully exposing them and daring not conceal them; may the sins already committed be eliminated, and future evils dare not be created again. Just as all great bodhisattvas of the future who will cultivate the bodhisattva practices will have repented of all their karmic obstructions, my karmic obstructions I also now repent of, fully exposing them and daring not conceal them; may the sins already committed be eliminated, and future evils dare not be created again. Just as all great bodhisattvas of the present throughout the worlds of the ten directions who cultivate the bodhisattva practices have repented of all their karmic obstructions, my karmic obstructions I also now repent of, fully exposing them and daring not conceal them; may the sins already committed be eliminated, and future evils dare not be created again." (Having repented, take refuge and bow to the Three Jewels.)

1.44

"I, the monk [name], take refuge and bow my head to all Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones of the ten directions who have newly attained correct awakening and have not yet turned the wheel of the Dharma, or who wish to renounce their response bodies and enter nirvāṇa; I bow my head to all these World-Honoured Ones, exhorting them to turn the wheel of the Dharma and requesting them to abide long in the world, to liberate and bring peace and joy to all sentient beings." (Having exhorted and requested, take refuge and bow to the Three Jewels.)

1.45

"I, the monk [name], take refuge and bow my head to all Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones of the ten directions; I now rejoice in the giving, morality, mental cultivation, and wisdom cultivated through the three karmas by all sentient beings, the good roots of the worthies and noble ones of the two vehicles and bodhisattvas, and all the merits of the Dharma of wondrous bodhi realized by the Buddhas of the ten directions and bestowed upon all; in all of them I wholeheartedly rejoice and praise." (Having rejoiced, take refuge and bow to the Three Jewels.)

1.46

"I, the monk [name], take refuge and bow my head to all Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones of the ten directions, praying that they bear witness and know: all the goodness cultivated through the three karmas by me from beginningless time until today—giving, morality, wholesome wisdom, up to repenting, exhorting, and rejoicing—gathering them before me, I dedicate and bestow them upon all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm, that together they may realize bodhi equal to all Buddhas." (Having dedicated, take refuge and bow to the Three Jewels.)

1.47

"I, the monk [so-and-so], take refuge and bow my head to all the Buddhas, the World-Honoured Ones of the ten directions. Bear witness to my slight sincerity and present vows: May the devas and the eight classes [of beings] increase their majestic spiritual power and always come to protect and sustain this land of ours. May the winds be auspicious and the rains timely, and the grains and fruits yield an abundant harvest. May the sagely emperors and benevolent kings oversee boundlessly with loving-kindness. May the ministers and officials forever preserve their honour and glory. May the myriad clans and the four classes of people perpetually enjoy peace, wealth, and joy. May the donors to the Buddha-Dharma, our parents, teachers, and monastics, our enemies and kin throughout successive lifetimes, and all sentient beings of the Dharma realm all give rise to correct faith and arouse the bodhicitta, jointly cultivate the six perfections, and become fully endowed with the two adornments. Furthermore, we vow that, with the invisible assistance of the multitude of holy ones, we will always encounter the Mahāyāna and good spiritual friends who open our Buddha-wisdom; that our vows and practices may become manifest so that we shoulder and propagate the teachings of the Buddhas of the three periods of time to guide and transform all; and that we kindle an inexhaustible lamp, universally gathering sentient beings together to return to the secret treasury." (Having made the vows, take refuge and bow to the Three Jewels.)

1.48

"Namo Buddha, namo Dharma, namo Saṅgha. Namo our Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha. Namo the Four Buddhas of the Four Directions. Namo Ratnapuṣpavaiḍūrya Buddha. Namo the Mahāyāna Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra (three times). Namo Ruciraketu Bodhisattva. Namo Suvarṇaprabhāsa Bodhisattva. Namo Suvarṇagarbha Bodhisattva. Namo Sadāprarudita Bodhisattva. Namo Dharmodgata Bodhisattva. Namo the Great Merit Deva of Foremost Majestic Virtue and Accomplishment of All Affairs."

English (machine translation)

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