Quotations on the Medicine Buddha: sutras and witnesses
The words attributed to the Medicine Buddha in the sutras, then what inscriptions, chronicles and museums say about him. Every quotation links to its exact source.
Sutras
The words the sutra attributes to the Medicine Buddha and to those around him. Original text, then translation.
The twelve great vows
The twelve vows as given in the Chinese translation by Xuanzang (650), Taishō T14 n0450, p. 405a07–b26. Each vow: the Chinese original, then a faithful paraphrase by Lapis. These are religious aspirations.
Vow 1. A light that illuminates everything
第一大願：願我來世得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提時，自身光明，熾然照曜無量無數無邊世界，以三十二大丈夫相、八十隨好，莊嚴其身；令一切有情，如我無異。
TranslationMay my body shine and light up countless worlds, and may all beings be adorned with the marks of a Buddha.
T14 n0450, p. 405a07–10
Vow 2. A transparent body
第二大願：願我來世得菩提時，身如琉璃，內外明徹，淨無瑕穢，光明廣大，功德巍巍，身善安住，焰網莊嚴，過於日月；幽冥眾生，悉蒙開曉，隨意所趣，作諸事業。
TranslationMay my body be pure as lapis lazuli, transparent within and without, and may this light dispel the darkness of beings.
T14 n0450, p. 405a11–14
Vow 3. That nothing be lacking
第三大願：願我來世得菩提時，以無量無邊智慧方便，令諸有情，皆得無盡所受用物，莫令眾生有所乏少。
TranslationMay I, through wisdom and infinite means, fulfil the needs of all beings, so that none lacks what is necessary.
T14 n0450, p. 405a15–17
Vow 4. Towards the right path
第四大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情行邪道者，悉令安住菩提道中；若行聲聞獨覺乘者，皆以大乘而安立之。
TranslationMay those who follow mistaken paths find the way to Awakening, and may those who travel in the vehicles of listeners or solitary buddhas be established in the Great Vehicle.
T14 n0450, p. 405a18–20
Vow 5. Pure conduct
第五大願：願我來世得菩提時，若有無量無邊有情，於我法中修行梵行，一切皆令得不缺戒，具三聚戒。設有毀犯，聞我名已，還得清淨，不墮惡趣。
TranslationMay those who have received precepts and broken them be able to regain purity and not fall into bad destinies when they hear my name.
T14 n0450, p. 405a21–24
Vow 6. A whole body
第六大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情，其身下劣，諸根不具，醜陋、頑愚、盲、聾、瘖、瘂、攣、躄、背僂、白癩、癲狂、種種病苦；聞我名已，一切皆得端正黠慧。諸根完具，無諸疾苦。
TranslationMay those whose bodies are marked by ugliness, blindness, deafness, infirmity or incurable illness be endowed with complete faculties on hearing my name.
T14 n0450, p. 405a25–28
Vow 7. A refuge for those who have none
第七大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情，眾病逼切，無救無歸，無醫無藥，無親無家，貧窮多苦，我之名號，一經其耳，病悉得除，身心安樂，家屬資具，悉皆豐足，乃至證得無上菩提。
TranslationMay those afflicted by illness, without support, doctor, home or resources, be relieved on hearing my name, until they attain Awakening.
T14 n0450, p. 405a29–b04
Vow 8. Freedom from the female condition
第八大願：願我來世得菩提時，若有女人，為女百惡之所逼惱，極生厭離，願捨女身；聞我名已，一切皆得轉女成男，具丈夫相，乃至證得無上菩提。
TranslationMay women overwhelmed by the sufferings of their condition, and wishing to be freed from it, be liberated.
T14 n0450, p. 405b05–08
Vow 9. Freedom from Māra’s nets
第九大願：願我來世得菩提時，令諸有情，出魔羂網，解脫一切外道纏縛；若墮種種惡見稠林，皆當引攝置於正見，漸令修習諸菩薩行，速證無上正等菩提。
TranslationMay all beings be delivered from the nets of Māra and the bonds of mistaken doctrines, and established in right view.
T14 n0450, p. 405b09–12
Vow 10. Freedom from prisons
第十大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情，王法所錄，縲縛鞭撻，繫閉牢獄，或當刑戮，及餘無量災難凌辱，悲愁煎迫，身心受苦；若聞我名，以我福德威神力故，皆得解脫一切憂苦。
TranslationMay those who are chained, condemned or threatened by the king be freed from fear and sorrow, by the power of my merit.
T14 n0450, p. 405b13–17
Vow 11. Food for the hungry
第十一大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情，飢渴所惱，為求食故造諸惡業；得聞我名，專念受持，我當先以上妙飲食，飽足其身；後以法味，畢竟安樂而建立之。
TranslationMay those suffering from hunger be first fed, then nourished by the taste of the Dharma.
T14 n0450, p. 405b18–21
Vow 12. Clothing for the cold
第十二大願：願我來世得菩提時，若諸有情，貧無衣服，蚊虻寒熱，晝夜逼惱；若聞我名，專念受持，如其所好，即得種種上妙衣服，亦得一切寶莊嚴具，華鬘塗香，鼓樂眾伎，隨心所翫，皆令滿足。
TranslationMay those who are poor, naked, tormented by cold, mosquitoes and heat receive precious clothes, ornaments, flowers, music and cause for joy.
T14 n0450, p. 405b22–26
願我來世得菩提時，身如琉璃，內外明徹，淨無瑕穢。
身如琉璃，內外清淨無復瑕垢。
身如琉璃，內外清徹，光明廣大，遍滿諸方。
tadā bodhiprāptasya ca me kāyaḥ anarghavaidūryamaṇir iva antarbahiratyantapariśuddho vimalaprabhāsaṃpannaḥ syāt
may my body be like a precious blue beryl gem—pure inside and out and radiating a stainless light.
TranslationWhen I attain awakening, may my body be like lapis lazuli, clear within and without, pure and without stain.
The 2nd vow in three Chinese translations, the Sanskrit and an English translation from the Tibetan: all compare the body to vaiḍūrya (lapis lazuli or blue beryl), pure inside and out. The translation follows Xuanzang.
- Xuanzang 玄奘 (650), Taishō T14 n0450, p. 405a11–12
- Dharmagupta 達摩笈多 (616), 佛說藥師如來本願經, Taishō T14 n0449, p. 401c01–02
- Yijing 義淨 (707), 藥師琉璃光七佛本願功德經, Taishō T14 n0451, p. 413a10–11
- Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabharājasūtra, ed. P. L. Vaidya, Mahāyānasūtrasaṃgraha I (Darbhanga 1961), p. 165 — GRETIL
- 84000 Translation Team, The Detailed Account of the Previous Aspirations of the Blessed Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabha (Toh 504), from the Tibetan, ch. 1 — © 84000, CC BY-NC-ND
然彼佛土，一向清淨……琉璃為地，金繩界道，城、闕、宮、閣、軒、窓、羅網，皆七寶成。
TranslationThat Buddha land is entirely pure… its ground is of lapis lazuli, golden cords mark its roads, and its walls, gate towers, palaces, pavilions, verandas, windows and nets are all made of the seven jewels.
我等相率，皆同一心，乃至盡形歸佛法僧，誓當荷負一切有情，為作義利饒益安樂。
TranslationTogether, all of one mind, until the end of our lives we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and we vow to carry all beings and bring them benefit, welfare and peace.
Spoken by the twelve yaksha generals, the guardians often shown around Medicine Buddha statues.
南謨薄伽伐帝 鞞殺社寠嚕 薜琉璃鉢喇婆 曷囉闍也 呾他揭多也 阿囉𠿒帝 三藐三勃陀也 呾姪他 唵 鞞殺逝 鞞殺逝 鞞殺社三沒揭帝 莎訶
TranslationHomage to the Blessed One, Master of Remedies, King of Lapis-Lazuli Light, Tathāgata, Arhat, perfectly awakened. Thus: oṃ, remedy, remedy, source of remedies, svāhā.
The formula is a Chinese phonetic transcription of a Sanskrit text; the translation gives its generally accepted meaning.
Masters and traditions
Prefaces, temple inscriptions and royal steles that quote or praise the Medicine Buddha.
Huiju 慧矩, 616
所願此經深義人人共解，彼佛名號處處遍聞。
TranslationMay the deep meaning of this sutra be understood by all, and the name of that Buddha be heard everywhere.
Yakushi-ji 薬師寺, c. 730
巍巍蕩蕩薬師如来 大発誓願 廣運慈哀
TranslationLofty and vast is the Medicine Buddha Tathāgata: he made great vows and spreads his compassion far and wide.
The inscription records that the emperor founded the temple in 680 because the empress was ill.
Jayavarman VII, 1186
rāṣṭra-duḥkhaṁ hi bhartṝṇāṁ duḥkhaṁ duḥkhan tu nātmanaḥ
Il souffrait des maladies de ses sujets plus que des siennes : car c’est la douleur publique qui fait la douleur des rois, et non leur propre douleur.
TranslationHe suffered from the illnesses of his subjects more than from his own: for it is the public pain that makes the pain of kings, and not their own pain.
History and art
Chronicles and museum texts that record how statues and temples were made.
Hōryū-ji 法隆寺
池邊大宮治天下天皇、大御身勞賜時、歳次丙午年、召於大王天皇與太子而誓願賜……将造寺薬師像作仕奉詔。
TranslationThe emperor of the Ikenobe palace, being ill in the hinoe-uma year [586], summoned the sovereign and the crown prince, made a vow… and ordered that a temple be built and a statue of Yakushi be made.
The inscription bears the date 607; many historians consider it later.
Nihon shoki 日本書紀, 720
皇后體不豫。則爲皇后誓願之、初興藥師寺、仍度一百僧。
TranslationThe empress fell ill. [The emperor] then made a vow for her and founded Yakushi-ji; he had a hundred monks ordained.
Shoku Nihongi 続日本紀, 797
又造薬師仏像七躯、高六尺三寸。并写経七巻。
TranslationSeven statues of the Medicine Buddha were also made, each six shaku three sun high, and seven scrolls of scripture were copied.
Entry for the 20th day of the 9th month of Tenpyō 17 (745), when Emperor Shōmu was ill.
Art Institute of Chicago
he is a manifestation of the metaphor of the Buddha as the master physician who seeks to eliminate suffering and root out the three poisons of desire, aversion, and ignorance.
Cleveland Museum of Art
From the 700s, people in Japan began praying to the Medicine Master Buddha (Yakushi Nyorai) for longevity.
84000
Vaiḍūrya may nevertheless have been taken to designate different gems at different times and places, and no single equivalent in English is entirely satisfactory.
Translations by Lapis unless stated otherwise. Copyrighted extracts are brief and credited. Checked on 16 October 2026.