The Amitāyus Sutra (Sanskrit; "Sutra of Immeasurable Life"), also known as the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra and the Amitābhavyūha (Array of Amitābha), is one of the two Indian Mahayana sutras surviving in Sanskrit which describe the pure land of Amitābha (also known as Amitāyus, "Measureless Life"), the other being the Amitābha Sūtra.
The Amitāyus Sutra contains the past-life tale of Dharmākara Bodhisattva, who would go on to become Buddha Amitābha. It also explains how he gave rise to the Original Vows which led to the creation of the Pure Land of Sukhavati. The title of the sutra is often translated in English as either the Sutra [on the Buddha] of Immeasurable Life, or simply the Immeasurable Life Sutra. The Immeasurable Life Sutra is one of the three central scriptures of East Asian Pure Land Buddhism, and is widely revered and chanted by Pure Land Buddhists throughout Asia.
History and versions of the text
Some scholars believe that the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra was compiled in the age of the Kushan Empire in the first and second centuries by an order of Mahīśāsaka monastics who flourished in the Gandhāra region.Nakamura, Hajime. Indian Buddhism: A Survey With Biographical Notes. 1999. p. 205Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2008. p. 239 It is likely that the longer Sukhāvatīvyūha owed greatly to the Lokottaravāda sect as well for its compilation, and in this sūtra there are many elements in common with the Mahāvastu.
The earliest of the Chinese translations show traces of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language, a prakrit used in the Northwest.Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath. India in Early Central Asia. 1996. p. 15 It is also known that manuscripts in the Kharoṣṭhī script existed in China during this period.
The various versions of the sutra use various titles including Sutra of Amitāyus, Array of Amitābha (Amitābha-vyūha), and the Array of the Blissful Land (Sukhāvatīvyūha), a title it shares with the shorter Amitābha Sūtra.
In East Asian Buddhism it is most widely known as the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (; Sutra of Immeasurable Life Spoken by Buddha; Vietnamese: Phật Thuyết Vô Lượng Thọ Kinh; Japanese: Bussetsu Muryōju Kyō).
Versions Traditionally the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is believed to have been translated into Chinese twelve times from Indic language sources from 147 to 713 CE. Only five translations are extant in the Chinese Buddhist canon.Eltschinger, Vincent. "Pure Land Sūtras" in Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism (I: Literature and Languages), 2015.
The five Chinese translations are (in order of translation date):
Foshuo amituo sanyesanfo saloufotan guodu rendao jing (佛説阿彌陀三耶三佛薩樓佛檀過度人 道經; T. 362) - traditionally attributed to the translator Zhi Qian, but it is likely a translation of Lokakṣema (2nd century CE) or someone in his lineage. This is also called the Han translation and is likely the earliest version currently extant. Foshuo wuliangqingjing pingdengjue jing (佛説無量清淨平等覺經; T. 361), most likely the work of Zhi Qian (3rd-century). It is likely a revision of T.362 which introduces some verse passages. This is also called the Wu translation. Fóshuō Wúliángshòu Jīng (佛説無量壽經; T. 360) in two fascicles, by Buddhabhadra (359–429 ce) and his assistant Baoyun (寶雲; 376–449 ce). Traditionally it has also been attributed to Saṅghavarman at the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, though modern scholars now disagree with this.*Nattier, Jan (2008). A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations: Texts from the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms Periods, Bibliotheca Philologica et Philosophica, IRIAB Vol. X, 158; This is also called the Wei translation. This edition is the most common edition studied in East Asian Buddhism and it represents "an intermediate stage in the transmission of the larger Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra". Wuliangshou rulai hui (無量壽如來會; T. 310), which is part of the composite Mahāratnakūṭasutra, which was translated by Bodhiruci II (late 6th-century and early 7th-century). This text reflects a "later recension" of the text than the previous three. It is called the "Tang translation." Foshuo dasheng wuliangshou zhuangyan jing (佛説大乘無量壽莊嚴經; T. 363), by Faxian (法賢; Dharmabhadra; also known as Tianxizai [天息災]; fl. 980–1000). This is often called the "Song translation" and it reflects a later recension of the Sukhāvatīvyūha.
Each of the five Chinese translations have different linguistic styles and differ slightly in content. For example, regarding the number of vows, the Han and Wu translations both have twenty-four vows and similar content, suggesting they derive from the same source text. Harrison considers these two to be archaic Chinese translations of an early Indic text of the Sukhāvatīvyūha. The Wei and Tang translations both have forty-eight vows, while the later Song translation has thirty-six vows and likely comes from a different Indic source.
Furthermore, there is a Tibetan translation, which is similar to the last two later recensions in Chinese. This is the ’Phags pa ’od dpag med kyi bkod pa (*Āryāmitābhavyūha; D 49/P 760) translated in the 9th century by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Ye shes sde.
In addition to the translations, the Sūtra is also extant in Sanskrit, surviving in a late Nepalese manuscript. The Sanskrit has been directly translated into English by F. Max Mueller.Müller, Max, trans. (1894), The Larger Sukhāvatī-vyūha. In: The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XLIX: Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts, Part II. Oxford: Clarendon Press, It is a "late recension" type similar to the Tibetan edition.
There are also several fragments of another earlier version in Sanskrit (found in the manuscripts of the Schøyen Collection), along with fragments of Uighur, Khotanese, and Xixia translations.
According to Luis O. Gomez, there are some significant differences between the Sanskrit and the Chinese edition of Buddhabhadra / Saṅghavarman. Gomez writes:the order of the narrative and the argument deviate, sometimes only on minor points, sometimes in major ways; differences in content occur throughout, and range from a regrouping and rearrangement of important themes (in the content and structure of the verse portions, for instance, and in the vows), to significant omissions and additions. The parallels, however, are more and stronger than the divergences, so that our understanding of one version may still benefit from our reading of the other. Two long passages in Sanghavarman's version have no correspondence in the Sanskrit (or, for that matter, in the Tibetan) versions. These passages are probably "interpolations," but we have no way of knowing for certain today where and when they were added to the text.Gomez, Luis, trans. (1996), The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light: Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhavativyuha Sutras, p. 129. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Contents
The Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is presented as a discourse delivered by the Buddha Shakyamuni on Gṛdhrakūṭa (“Vulture Peak”) near Rājagṛha. The implicit setting is that of the Mahayana Buddhist cosmos of many world-systems, with Shakyamuni speaking in our world while also describing a distant realm. Amitabha (Measureless Light), the central figure in the sutra, is also known as Amitayus (Measureless Life). He is the Buddha of Measureless Light since his light is said to spread unimpeded over all buddha-fields. He is also the Buddha of Measureless Life, with an immeasurable life span, something that is also granted to the inhabitants of his land. Amitabha is said to have attained Buddhahood ten cosmic ages ago.
The sutra opens with the Buddha Shakyamuni begins by describing to his attendant Ānanda a past life of the Buddha Amitābha. He states that in a past life, Amitābha was once a king who renounced his kingdom and became a bodhisattva monk named Dharmākara ("Dharma Storehouse"). Under the guidance of the Buddha Lokeśvararāja ("World Sovereign King"), innumerable buddha-lands throughout the ten directions are revealed to him and he aspires to create the best of all buddha-fields, vowing:Inagaki, Hisao. The Three Pure Land Sutras. 2003. p. xviI will have a magnificent field, the best and highest, and in this most noble beautified high seat of awakening, will be found the incomparable bliss of the state of nirvana. And I will purify this field so that in it all living beings will reach nirvana. (section 19.8; trans. Gómez, 1996, 67) After meditating for five eons on all the qualities and features of all buddhafields, Dharmākara (i.e. Amitābha) then made a great series of bodhisattva vows to save all sentient beings, and through the great merit of his subsequent practice (which lasted many kalpas), created the realm of Sukhāvatī ("Ultimate Bliss"). This land of Sukhāvatī is "a buddha-field that is one hundred thousand million trillion buddha-fields away from where we are".
The number of vows made by Dharmākara bodhisattva differ depending on the sutra versions. Forty-eight are found in the common Chinese version, though a Sanskrit version mentions forty-seven. These vows articulate the bodhisattva's resolve to save all sentient beings and define the qualities and conditions of the buddha-field he intended to create (i.e. Sukhāvatī). The "past vows" are considered the pivotal force in Amitayus' attainment of Buddhahood and the generation of his pure buddhafield. Key vows include promises regarding:
How Amitabha's name will be praised by all the buddhas of the ten directions The infinite light and life span of the Buddha Amitabha Rebirth in his Pure Land for those who aspire to it, even if one is only mindful of the Buddha ten times or less (this is the eighteenth vow, considered the foundational vow for Pure Land Buddhism). Those who hear Amitabha's name will be reborn in the Pure Land with pure golden bodies with infinite life, with the divine eye and divine ear. Amitabha will appear to the believer at the time of death to escort them to the Pure Land. Guaranteed Buddhahood for those reborn in his land. This means the immediate attainment of the bodhisattva state of non-retrogression (aivaivartika). This also means that beings reborn in this pure land are "tied to only one more birth" (ekajātipratibaddha) before buddhahood. Specific qualities of the land and its inhabitants, such as freedom from unpleasant experiences or ideas of property, beautiful landscapes with magical trees and animals that teach the Buddhist Dharma, and so on. All versions of the Amitāyus Sutra contain a passage that has been seen as central to Pure Land Buddhism. In East Asia this passage is called the "18th vow" or the "Fundamental Vow" (本願, hongan). This passage promises birth in the Pure Land of Amitabha to all who merely think of Amitabha Buddha as little as ten times (excluding those who have commit the five heinous crimes and slander the True Dharma). In the Chinese translation by Buddhabhadra (T. 360) the vow states:If, when I attain buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten directions, with sincere mind, entrusting themselves in joy, and desiring to be born in my land, even down to ten thoughts, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect awakening. Excluded are those who commit the five heinous crimes (ānantarika karma) and slander the true Dharma. The key passages which indicate how to attain birth in the Pure Land emphasizes hearing the Buddha's name (Sanskrit: nāmadheya), and "remembering" (anu √ smṛ) the Buddha with serene trust (prasannacitta), setting the mind on being reborn in that buddhafield (buddhakṣetre cittaṃ preṣayeyuḥ), and making the resolution (cittotpāda) to attain birth there only ten times. Since within the frame story of the sutra, it is clear that Dharmākara bodhisattva has already attain Buddhahood, becoming the Buddha Amitabha, then it is understood that whoever achieves these deeds will certainly attain birth in his pure land.