The Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha – all 13 chapters

What the sūtra is about

The sūtra opens with the Buddha in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, teaching the Dharma for his mother, with Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions gathered. At its centre are the vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva to bring relief to beings suffering in the lower realms. The first chapter already tells of a past life in which he was a Brahmin woman devoted to her late mother.

Later chapters speak of beings' actions and their results, the names of the hells, the benefit for both the living and the dead (chapter 7), the merit of giving (chapter 10), the earth deity who protects the Dharma (chapter 11) and, last, the Buddha's entrustment (chapter 13). Because it speaks of filial devotion and of those who have passed away, Vietnamese Buddhists often chant it during the Vu Lan season and in the days of prayer after a relative dies.

How the two translations differ

Translation 1 gives the chapters short names («Chapter 1: Supernormal Powers in the Trāyastriṃśa Palace») and carries many numbered notes. Translation 2 opens by recording that the Chinese text was translated by Śikṣānanda in the Tang dynasty, uses longer chapter names and capitalises every honorific. Both render the same sūtra; pick the one that reads more easily for you.

The library holds the Vietnamese translations only — no Sino-Vietnamese transliteration, recording or download yet. The source is shown under each text: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng Kinh (Vietnamese translation).

Reading and chanting at home

Scroll 1 holds six chapters; a reader new to the sūtras often needs more than an hour for the whole scroll. There is no need to finish it in one sitting: one chapter a day still keeps the practice. The in-app plan «Ullambana & Kṣitigarbha — 15 days» takes you through one chapter a day.