Introduction
i.1The Teaching on the Effulgence of Light is the eleventh among the forty-nine sūtras included in the Heap of Jewels (Ratnakūṭa) section in the Degé Kangyur. The sūtra presents a series of teachings, composed mainly in verse, that focus on the nature of the lights emitted by awakened beings. Questioned by the bodhisattva Candraprabhakumārabhūta, the Buddha reveals the specific spiritual achievements underlying his manifestation of light rays, and the way those lights manifest to ripen beings with varying spiritual inclinations. As the Buddha displays the magnificence of his miraculous powers to the assemblies in attendance, he repeatedly emphasizes the fact that the lights displayed by the buddhas spontaneously emerge from insight into the emptiness of all phenomena and from the absence of clinging to marks that results from this realization. Besides the doctrine of emptiness, which is expounded at length throughout the text, this discourse also introduces two dhāraṇīs and discusses general themes associated with the Great Vehicle, such as the qualities required to progress on the path, and the importance of the practice of generosity.
i.1《光明徧放經》是德格版《大藏經》中《大寶積經》部分所包含的四十九部經中的第十一部。本經主要以韻文形式呈現一系列教法，重點闡述了證悟者所發出的光明的本質。月光童子菩薩提出疑問，佛陀揭示了他顯現光線所基於的具體靈性成就，以及這些光線如何對具有不同靈性傾向的有情發揮成熟作用的方式。當佛陀向在場的大眾展示他的神通的殊勝性時，他反覆強調佛陀所發出的光明自然而然地源於對一切法的空性的慧悟，以及由此證悟所產生的對相的不執取。除了在全文中長篇論述的空性教義之外，本經還介紹了兩個陀羅尼，並探討了與大乘相關的普遍主題，例如在道上進步所需的品質，以及布施修行的重要性。
i.2The sūtra also presents two brief accounts of previous lives of Candraprabhakumārabhūta—the primary interlocutor of the Buddha—related to past occasions on which he received similar instructions on the lights emitted by awakened beings. In these narratives, he is respectively portrayed as a devoted king who worshiped a past buddha and as a young boy who witnessed the Buddha Dīpaṅkara prophesying the future awakening of the Buddha Śākyamuni. Candraprabhakumārabhūta is often portrayed by Tibetans as a past incarnation of Gampopa (sgam po pa, 1079–1153), the famous physician who established the Kagyü (bka’ brgyud) school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is mentioned in several Great Vehicle sūtras—notably the Samādhirājasūtra and the Mahākaruṇāpuṇḍarīkasūtra (Toh 111)—where the Buddha narrates his past lives and makes prophecies about his future lives. Some biographers of Gampopa also cite the Heap of Jewels in this context, and one of them, Norbu Gyenpa (nor bu rgyan pa, 1589–1633), specifically mentions The Teaching on the Effulgence of Light in his biography.
i.2這部經典還呈現了月光童子的兩段前世記述——他是佛陀的主要提問者——涉及他過去接受過關於覺悟者所放光明之相似教誨的場合。在這些敘述中，他分別被描繪為一位虔誠的國王，曾禮拜過去的佛陀，以及一位年輕男孩，見證了燃燈佛為釋迦牟尼佛的未來成佛授記。藏人常將月光童子描繪為岡波巴（西元1079－1153年）的過去化身。岡波巴是著名的醫師，他建立了噶舉派藏傳佛教學派。月光童子在多部大乘經典中被提及——尤其是《三昧王經》和《大悲蓮華經》（Toh 111）——在這些經中，佛陀敘述他的前世並對他的未來世生作出授記。岡波巴的一些傳記作者也在這個背景下引用大寶積經，其中一位傳記作者諾布堅巴（西元1589－1633年）在他的傳記中特別提及《光明徧放經》。
i.3We have not been able to locate any specific citation from this discourse within the commentarial works of Indian scholars, and to our knowledge this discourse has also not received much attention in modern scholarship. The only exception to this appears to be Garma C.C. Chang’s partial translation from the Chinese in his anthology of translations from the Heap of Jewels collection. Only a few of the texts contained in the Heap of Jewels are extant in Sanskrit, and The Teaching on the Effulgence of Light is unfortunately not among them. The Tibetan translation, which we have here rendered into English based on the Degé block print, the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), and the Stok Palace manuscript, was completed in the early translation period and is listed in the early ninth-century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog under the alternative title The Noble Accomplishment of Light (’phags pa ’od zer bsgrub pa). It is also found under the same title in the Phangthangma ('phang thang ma) catalog, where it is also said to be "incomplete" (sgyur 'phro). However, just as with several other sūtras in the Heap of Jewels section, this text might have been translated from Chinese, rather than Sanskrit.
i.3我們未能在印度學者的注疏著作中找到本經的任何具體引用，據我們所知，本經在現代學術研究中也未受到太多關注。唯一的例外似乎是葛瑪‧張（Garma C.C. Chang）從中文文本進行的部分翻譯，收錄在他的《大寶積經》譯文選集中。《大寶積經》所包含的文獻中，只有少數現存梵文版本，《光明徧放經》不幸並未列在其中。本藏文譯本乃根據德格版《大藏經》、對比版（dpe bsdur ma）及斯托克宮殿寺院手稿所進行的翻譯，完成於早期譯經時代，並在九世紀初的丹噶瑪（ldan dkar ma）目錄中以別名《聖光成就經》('phags pa 'od zer bsgrub pa)著錄。同樣的名稱也出現在帕當瑪（'phang thang ma）目錄中，在該目錄中亦被說為「不完整」(sgyur 'phro)。然而，正如《大寶積經》中的其他數部經典一樣，本經文本可能係由中文而非梵文譯出。
i.4The Chinese canon contains a single translation of this discourse (Taishō 310[11]), which was produced during the early eighth century ᴄᴇ by Bodhiruci (d. 713), a renowned Indian translator who traveled to China and was responsible for the translation of many Sanskrit texts into Chinese, including several from the Heap of Jewels. In general, the sūtra does not bear the marks of being a translation from Chinese to Tibetan (such as the unique vocabulary and style only found in such translations). However, as it is notably missing the standard colophon that usually follows Tibetan translations from the Sanskrit, it is possible that the text does represent an original translation from the Chinese, one that was subsequently passed through editorial codification to bring it into conformity with the standard lexicon and register of the majority of translations from the Sanskrit. For the present translation, we have compared our translation against the entire Chinese text and mentioned significant differences in the notes to the translation. As for whether the Tibetan translation was produced from Chinese or Sanskrit sources, we have been unable to resolve this question conclusively, but future research will hopefully shed more light on the textual history of this sūtra.
i.4中文版《大藏經》收錄了本經唯一的翻譯版本（大正藏310[11]），該譯本由菩提流支（卒於713年）在八世紀初翻譯而成。菩提流支是一位享有盛名的印度譯者，曾往來於中國，負責將許多梵文典籍翻譯成中文，其中包括《大寶積經》中的多部經典。總體而言，本經沒有呈現出從中文翻譯為藏文的典型特徵（例如只出現在此類翻譯中的獨特詞彙和風格）。不過，由於本經明顯缺少通常跟隨藏文梵文譯本的標準尾記，因此有可能這部經文確實代表了一個源自中文的原始翻譯，隨後經過編輯規範化，使其與大多數梵文譯本的標準詞彙和文體相符。在本翻譯中，我們將譯文與整部中文典籍進行了對比，並在翻譯註釋中提及了重要差異。至於藏文譯本是否源自中文或梵文資料，我們未能得出決定性的結論，但希望未來的研究能對本經的文本史提供更多光照。