Then at that time, at that moment, the noble goddess Bodhisattva-samucchaya praised the Tathagata:
Homage to the Buddha, who is possessed of an utterly immaculate mind and presides over an utterly flawless Dharma. Perfectly knowing existence and non-existence, his sublime mind is freed from evil karma’s paths.
How amazing! The Buddha’s splendor is boundless. How amazing! It is like the ocean and Mount Sumeru. How amazing! The Buddha’s field of activity is endless. The Buddha is rare as the udumvara blossom.
How amazingly compassionate is the Tathagata – the pinnacle of the Shakya kings, a sun among lords of men – that he has expounded such a sublime sutra as this in order to nurture and guide all beings!
With his senses serene, the Tathagata Shakyamuni has entered the city of peace, most sublime. So profound, calm and pure is your concentration, you abide in the victorious buddhas’ domain of experience.
In this way, the bodies of shravakas are empty; the most sublime of bipeds dwells in emptiness too. As all these phenomena are empty by nature, those lacking empty nature are not found at all.
Unwavering and steadfast, I remember the Conqueror. Always I am anxious to behold the Buddha. Fervently and incessantly I pray to glimpse the fully enlightened tathagata sun.
Constantly planting my knees on the ground, in sorrowful thirst, I long for the Conqueror. In a pitiful voice I sob for the Leader; deeply thirsty for the Sugata’s sight I remain. As I incessantly blaze with anxiety’s fire, bestow upon me the cooling water of your sight.
O Buddha, act for me with compassion; grant me the boon of your appearance, for I suffer with thirst for your sublime form. Satisfy me with the water of your compassion. You are the refuge of all beings, including the gods.
Thus the bodies of shravakas are empty; all beings by nature are like in a dream. Like space and the nature of space, an illusion, a mirage or the moon reflected in water, O Buddha, you are endowed with the great empty.
Then the Tathagata arose from his seat and spoke in a Brahma voice: “Excellent, noble goddess! Excellent again to you!”
When the Tathagata spoke in this way, the bodhisattvas led by the noble goddess Bodhisattva-samucchaya, the daughters of gods such as the noble goddess Sarasvati, the hosts of goddesses such as the noble goddess Shri, the divine kings such as Vaishravana, the whole assembly and the entire world of gods, humans, asuras, gandharvas, kinnaras, maharogas and so forth rejoiced and greatly praised the speech of the Tathagata.
This ends the twenty-first chapter, the Concluding Chapter from the King of Glorious Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light.
The King of Glorious Sutras called the Exalted Sublime Golden Light is completed.
Original Colophon:
The King of Sutras, the Sublime Golden Light was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan and edited according the linguistic codes of the new Tibetan language by the Indian abbots Shilendra Bodhi, Jna Siddhi and Shakyaprabha, and the translator-editor Bendhi Yeshe De.
Further, it was edited and corroborated against Choje Chaglo’s Chinese copy of the sutra by the translator Zhonnu Pel.
Colophon for this Translation:
This translation was prepared by Losang Dawa at the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and completed on December 21, 2005, at 10:40 in the morning, in Dunedin, New Zealand. Edited by Venerable Gyalten Mindrol, FPMT Education Department, with the kind and extremely generous assistance of Venerable Lhundup Damchö and Dr. James Blumenthal, both of whom took time from their own translating and editing projects to clarify many points in the Tibetan text and offer many helpful suggestions. Michael Joliffe and Megan Evart acted as this translation’s first test reciters and offered many helpful suggestions. Proofreading and other editorial suggestions were offered in the final stages by Venerable Tenzin Dekyong of Root Institute, and Sara Blumenthal, FPMT Education Department.
Current Translator’s Notes and Dedication:
This volume was translated at the behest of the Venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche. I am indebted to Professor Emmerick’s seminal English translation for helping narrow down the meanings of the Tibetan phrases or passages, as they often have different readings. Similarly, people, place and object Sanskritic names in this translation have been modeled on Professor Emmerick’s rendition, without the diacritical marks.
I would like to express deep gratitude to Venerable Gyalten Mindrol, my editor, for making the translation more readable and achieving high consistency with regard to style, ordering items and simplifying the Sanskrit names to assist the general readership. I also remain grateful to Merry Colony, the Education Director at FPMT International Office for her patience and for placing at my disposal a copy of Professor Emmerick’s translation and a photocopy of the Tibetan original.
Although attention was paid to the accuracy of the content in readable English, mistakes must remain considering my inadequacies in many areas. Therefore, I seek the forgiveness of the guardians of the teaching in general and of this sutra in particular. I also seek the forgiveness and understanding of true scholars for my failings. I accept all mistakes as my own.
Finally, should some merits stem from this translation, I dedicate them to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the lone beacon of hope and justice, my gurus and the Venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and to the spontaneous fruition of their seamless altruism for the highest good of Buddha’s teachings and sentient beings.
I also dedicate the merits to the just cause of the oppressed people of the world and the speedy fulfillment of their hopes and aspirations.
Last, but not least, I thank my wife, Sallie Dawa, and children, Yeshe and Samdrub Dawa for bearing with me with the inconveniences I imposed on them during the course of this translation. I am also grateful to the University of Otago Language Centre for their kind assistance in the use of their electronic services when communicating with my editor.
Losang Dawa December 12, 2006 Dunedin, New Zealand