Toh 41
The Sūtra of the Sun
ཉི་མའི་མདོ།
Sūryasūtra
nyi ma’i mdo
Translator: Translated by the Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Teamunder the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
Read time: 4 min
Version: v1.0.5
The KangyurDiscoursesThirteen late-translated sūtras
Summary
The Sūtra of the Sun is a short discourse providing a Buddhist account of a solar eclipse. On one occasion while the Buddha is residing in Śrāvastī, the sun is seized by Rāhu, lord of the asuras, which causes an eclipse. The god of the sun asks the Buddha for refuge, after which the Buddha urges Rāhu to release the sun. When questioned by Vemacitra, another lord of the asuras, Rāhu explains that if he had not let the sun go, his head would have split into seven pieces. This sūtra enjoys some popularity today and appears in Tibetan collections of mantras and texts for protection.