Toh 331 — The Sūtra of the Moon (2)

Candrasūtra

Translated by the Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

The Sūtra of the Moon (2)

F.259.b Homage to the Three Jewels!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling on the bank of Traveler’s Pond in the country of Campā.^[1] At that time, the entire moon was covered by Rāhu, lord of the asuras.^[2] Then the god who dwells on the disk of the moon, frightened, terrified, and dismayed,^[3] approached the Blessed One, bowed his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and sat to one side. He then appealed to him in verse:

“I pay homage to you,

Thoroughly liberated, heroic Buddha!

I am in distress.

Please grant me refuge!

“Candramas took refuge

In the Worthy One in the world, the Well-Gone One.

Therefore, free the moon from Rāhu!

Buddhas have compassion for the world.”

The Blessed One said:

“Rāhu! The moon dispels darkness.

Illuminating the sky,

It is radiant, F.260.a

Shining with white and pristine light.

Instead of seizing it in the sky,

Instantly release the lamp of beings!”^[4]

Then Rāhu, in a hurry,

Covered in sweat, agitated,

And confused like a sick person,^[5]

Released the moon.

When the great son of Virocana^[6] saw that Rāhu, lord of the asuras, had very swiftly released the moon, he asked him in verse:

“Why did you, Rāhu,

Covered in sweat, agitated,

And confused like a sick person,

Hurriedly release the moon?” ^[7]

Rāhu replied:

“As the Buddha uttered that verse,

If I had not released the moon,

My head would have split into seven pieces,^[8]

And even while alive I would not find happiness.”

The great son of Virocana exclaimed:

“Oh wonder! Amazing is the emergence of buddhas,

Who see peace!^[9]

If they utter a verse,

Rāhu will free the moon.”

This concludes “The Sūtra of the Moon.”

Notes

The Sanskrit edition, the Chinese versions, and the Theravāda parallels are set in Śrāvastī. It seems that the Sanskrit fragment 8 (Wille 2008, p. 345) had the same setting as the Tibetan translation of this sūtra, since the few akṣaras left read tīre (“on the shore”). Wille identifies this pond as Gargā Pond, known also from many Pali suttas as Gaggarā Pond, but we could not confirm it in the lexical resources we consulted.
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Read with the Sanskrit. The Tibetan reads de’i tshe lha ma yin gyi dbang po sgra gcan gyis zla ba’i dkyil ’khor thams cad ’od kyis bkab par gyur to.
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The Sanskrit adds āhṛṣṭaromakūpā (“with his hair standing on end”). Note that this term has a feminine ending in this context because it is in apposition to the feminine noun devatā.
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After this verse the Sanskrit adds atha rāhuṇā asurendreṇa tvaritatvaritaṃ candramaṇḍalam utsṛṣṭam (“Then the disk of the moon was very swiftly released by Rāhu, lord of the asuras”).
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Read with the Sanskrit saṃbhr(ānta āturo ya)thā and with Go, which reads nad pa bzhin du rtabs pa yis. The quotation from The Sūtra of the Moon in the Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra in Hi also supports this reading. D reads nad pa bzhin du brtad pa yis: “like a sick person, he released with haste the moon.”
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The Sanskrit reads adrākṣīd baḍir vairocano (“Bali Vairocana saw that…”). The Chinese translations also mention Bali by his name; Taishō 100 (sūtra no. 167) uses Bali’s epithet exactly as the Sanskrit. In the Theravāda parallels, it is Vemacitra who is Rāhu’s interlocutor. These asuras are often associated, and also accredited with the role of leaders. See The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, Toh 113 (#UT22084-051-001-174) and The Play in Full, Toh 95 (#UT22084-046-001-1181).
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Read with Sanskrit saṃ(bhrānta āturo yathā) and Go nad pa bzhin du brtabs pa’i. The quotation from The Sūtra of the Moon in Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra in Hi also supports this reading. D reads nad pa bzhin du brtad pa yis “like a sick person, he hastily and hurriedly released the moon.”
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This topos is found elsewhere in the Kangyur. See The White Lotus of the Good Dharma, Toh 113 (#UT22084-051-001-2703), The Hundred Deeds, Toh 340 (#UT22084-073-001-3058), The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī, Toh 543 (#UT22084-088-038-2620) and Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, Toh 558 (#UT22084-090-002-295).
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Read with He: kye ma bde ba gzigs pa’i/ /sangs rgyas rnams ni ’byung ba rmad. The Sanskrit fragment 8 reads madarśi(nāṃ). Wille’s speculation that the akṣara ma is possibly from kṣema = bde ba (Mahāvyutpatti entry 6415) finds support not only in He but also in Go, in the corresponding sūtra in Taishō 100, and in the quotation from the The Sūtra of the Moon in the commentary on the Great Upholder of the Secret Mantra in D. See Wille 2008, p. 349, n. 67. D: kye ma bden pa gzigs pa yi/ /sangs rgyas rnams ni ’byung ba rmad (“Oh wonder! Amazing is the emergence of buddhas, who see the truth!”).
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