Taishang Yuanshi Tianzun Shuo Yuhuang Benyuan Zunjing — Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning
This scripture belongs to the large body of Daoist salvation literature spoken in the voice of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (元始天尊), the highest of the Three Purities. Its date and place in the printed Daoist Canon are not established from the materials at hand; the text survives in the Chinese Wikisource transcription used here, and its exact canonical numbering (DZ number) could not be confirmed. In form it is narrative prose framing a long catalogue: the Celestial Worthy tells how, while still crown prince of a heavenly kingdom, the being who would become the Jade Emperor (玉皇) made fifty-eight vows, which the assembled company then hears recited in full, followed by a closing gatha in praise of his merit.
The fifty-eight vows move from the cosmic (that the heavens not turn against one another) through the moral and devotional (that those who call upon his name be spared grave transgression) to the visionary and paradisal (jade trees, immortal fruit, seamless robes, food that is neither too little nor too much), and close on two vows that fold back on the very idea of vowing — "may vow be also no-vow, and no-vow be also vow." The translation keeps each vow as a single line, numbered as in the source.
Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, which is printed in full below the translation. To our knowledge, this is the scripture's first complete published English translation.
Translation
At that time, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning was at the Tower of Yuluo Xiao, in the High Capital atop Jade Mountain, together with the Five Ancient Sovereigns, the Great Emperors of the Three Primes, the Lofty Perfected of the Ten Poles, and a boundless host of immortals, expounding the unsurpassed, utterly perfect, wondrous Way. As he opened and enlightened the beings of heaven, they beheld auspicious light in ten thousand rays, filling the empty firmament, which turned and coalesced into cloud-seal script, unbroken and legible in its traces.
At that time there was the Perfected Being of Compassion Who Saves from Distress, who rose at once from his seat, stepped forth from the ranks, bowed his head to the ground in obeisance, and addressed the Celestial Worthy, saying: "I do not yet understand — by what cause does this mysterious garden now manifest golden light and wondrous seal-script?"
The Celestial Worthy composed his spirit for a long while, then spoke, saying: "Within the Kingdom of Radiant Majesty, in the central land of Wondrous Bliss, the heir apparent to the throne, with a mind of clarity and stillness, made a vast and solemn vow, and by that cause released divine light, which became this wondrous seal-script."
The Four Perfected bowed twice more, touched their heads to the ground, and said to the Celestial Worthy: "The light arose from the vow; the script was formed by borrowing the light. What vow was made? We beg you to speak it truly."
Thereupon the Celestial Worthy commanded the Five Ancients of the Upper Prime to hold the inkstone, took up the brush, gazed upward at the cloud-seals, and recounted the vow:
First: may the twelve thousand heavens never turn against or harm one another.
Second: may the ninety thousand million lights shine bright as lapis lazuli.
Third: may kin through all the kalpas soon ascend to the fruit of the Way.
Fourth: may all bound to me by kinship and karmic tie increase in blessing and wisdom.
Fifth: may the great scholars of the Eastern Mountains — the worthy and the sage — flourish in culture and letters.
Sixth: may the kasaya-robed of the Western Lands strive with all their power in seated meditation.
Seventh: may every being, in every place, dwell in wondrous bliss.
Eighth: may they never sink or be destroyed, life after life, generation after generation.
Ninth: may those born in my land never again take a woman's body.
Tenth: may those who attend before me share honor equal to my own.
Eleventh: may those who smell my fragrance receive grace and be carried to salvation.
Twelfth: may those who call upon my name never be touched by the five heinous transgressions.
Thirteenth: may they ever behold my compassionate countenance, and never look upon depraved sights.
Fourteenth: may their ears hear the wondrous Dharma, and attentively receive the true teaching.
Fifteenth: may their noses, contemplating stillness, ever smell wondrous fragrance.
Sixteenth: may their tongues know no mingled flavors, but taste only the bland and tranquil Great Mystery.
Seventeenth: may their bodies know no weariness, seeing long life and constant joy.
Eighteenth: may their intent never scatter, but guard my Three Primes.
Nineteenth: may they cultivate themselves, realize themselves, and universally save the multitude of beings.
Twentieth: may the faults and evils of others be counted as my own transgressions.
Twenty-first: may those who resent me or hold me as an enemy have it dissolved and released at once.
Twenty-second: may those who cherish me and honor my virtue follow what is natural to them.
Twenty-third: may the low settle low, neither surging nor swelling.
Twenty-fourth: may the high stand towering, neither collapsing nor crumbling.
Twenty-fifth: may the birds and creatures of water and land become as unicorns and phoenixes.
Twenty-sixth: may the grass and trees of the mountains and streams become as cassia and orchid.
Twenty-seventh: may kin through kin together journey to the Imperial Capital.
Twenty-eighth: may they, from kalpa to kalpa, never fall into the common stream.
Twenty-ninth: may they, enduring insult with benevolence and gentleness, make firm the body of the Way.
Thirtieth: may they save beings without measure, and forever attain the golden body.
Thirty-first: may my expounding the Dharma from the mysterious throne bring joy and celebration to the beings of heaven.
Thirty-second: may the chanting of the cavern-hall's verses draw the golden immortals to follow like clouds.
Thirty-third: may the forests and slopes of the mountains no longer know high or low.
Thirty-fourth: may the four bounds and eight poles be near at hand, and never far.
Thirty-fifth: may all the palace halls be adorned in gold and jade.
Thirty-sixth: may every cloud-road I pass be crossed with jeweled nets.
Thirty-seventh: may the wondrous music of the Balanced Heaven turn and revolve with the light.
Thirty-eighth: may auspicious clouds and purple mist forever guard the jade balustrade.
Thirty-ninth: may the jade trees and fresh blossoms, the pearls and treasures, glow ever bright.
Fortieth: may the numinous fungus spread unbroken, its splendor gracing the cinnabar field.
Forty-first: may fire-dates and paired pears thickly deck the forest trees.
Forty-second: may immortal elixirs and wondrous treasures array themselves before and behind.
Forty-third: may yin and yang stand in harmony, neither cold nor warm.
Forty-fourth: may the Flowery Pool be bathed in often, neither overflowing nor shallow.
Forty-fifth: may the garments worn be without flaw and without seam.
Forty-sixth: may the cloud-fare eaten be neither lacking nor excessive.
Forty-seventh: may all that flies and calls answer the seasons, each attuned to the mysterious harmony.
Forty-eighth: may dragons play and unicorns coil, in auspicious dance at heaven's verge.
Forty-ninth: may my compassionate light shine everywhere, answering every request that is made.
Fiftieth: may my awesome virtue be without limit, so that none dare fail to follow.
Fifty-first: may those newly attaining immortal rank each aspire to surpass and go beyond.
Fifty-second: may those who have not yet ascended to the Way press bravely forward.
Fifty-third: may those who cut off attachment to study the Way become my disciples.
Fifty-fourth: may those who dispense medicine and heal illness also take their place among the ranks of the immortals.
Fifty-fifth: may they spread abroad divine merit, and broadly magnify the true transformation.
Fifty-sixth: may they give up their own flesh and blood, and forever put an end to miserly eating.
Fifty-seventh: may my vow be others' vow, and others' vow be my vow.
Fifty-eighth: may vow be also no-vow, and no-vow be also vow.
The Celestial Worthy then spoke a gatha, saying:
Great are the Jade Emperor's merit and virtue,
his vast vow, a body like the sea.
Through measureless kalpas he cultivated widely,
and rightly attained the rank of Unsurpassed Honored One.
The ten directions all take refuge in him —
immortals, buddhas, spirits, sages, and teachers.
Golden Lads gather the cloud brocade;
Jade Maidens receive the treasure casket.
Heavenly dragons ever guard and protect him;
even the many Perfected cannot hear it all.
For your sake I speak of it in brief;
let the great assembly listen with care.
At that time the Five Ancient Sovereigns, the Great Emperors of the Three Primes, the Four Great Perfected, and the assembled host of immortals, having heard this gatha, each rejoiced; leaping up, they bowed their heads, made obeisance to the Celestial Worthy, and took their leave, withdrawing.
Colophon
This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Daoist shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The scripture is narrative prose framing a numbered catalogue of vows and closing with a short verse gatha; the prose is rendered as prose, the vows are kept as fifty-eight numbered lines matching the source's own numbering, and the closing gatha is set as verse, line for line.
Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed: Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey of Daoist texts in Western languages were both searched by Chinese title, pinyin, and DZ number, and turned up entries only for a different, better-known Yuhuang text, the Gaoshang Yuhuang Xinyin Jing (Mind-Seal Scripture), not for this scripture. Two web searches (Chinese title, and pinyin title with "translation") likewise surfaced only unrelated Jade Emperor texts — chiefly the Gaoshang Yuhuang Benxing Jijing (Original Deeds/Acts scripture) and the Mind-Seal scripture — and no translation of this particular text, the Yuhuang Benyuan Zunjing. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of this scripture. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty.
A note on terms: 玉皇 is rendered "Jade Emperor," following the house glossary; 元始天尊 as "the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning." 慈悲度厄真人, a proper name in the text ("the Perfected who compassionately ferries beings across distress"), is kept as a descriptive title rather than treated as an ordinary noun phrase, since the scripture presents it as this figure's name. No unencodable or illegible characters (▢) occur in this source.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.
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Source Text: 太上元始天尊說玉皇本願尊經
Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
太上元始天尊說玉皇本願尊經
爾時
元始天尊在鬱羅蕭臺玉山上京。與五老上帝。三元大帝。十極高真。無鞅仙眾。說無上至真妙道。開悟天人乎見祥光萬道。充滿虛空。旋結成篆。絡繹可紀。時有慈悲度厄真人。即從座起。越班而出。稽首作禮。上白天尊曰。未審。今此玄苑以何因緣。特現金光妙篆。天尊凝神良久。言曰。光嚴國內妙樂中土。嗣位儲君。以清靜心。發宏誓願。緣放神光。成斯妙篆。四真再拜。稽首白天尊曰。光由願起。篆借光成。所發何願。請言其實。於是天尊即命上元捧硯五老。執筆仰睇雲篆。而述其願。
一願萬二千天不相背害。
二願九萬億光琉璃燦爛。
三願歷劫種親早登道果。
四願所有眷緣福慧增添。
五願東山碩儒賢聖文物。
六願西域袈裟力地參禪。
七願在在處處身住妙樂。
八願世世生生無有淪毀。
九願生吾國者不復女身。
十願侍吾前者與吾同尊。
十一願聞吾香者承恩受度。
十二願稱吾名者五逆不干。
十三願常睹慈顏不視邪色。
十四願耳聞妙法諦聽真詮。
十五願鼻觀寂靜常嗅妙香。
十六願舌無雜味恬淡太玄。
十七願身無困憊久視常樂。
十八願意不散亂守我三元。
十九願自修自證普度群品。
二十願人過人惡皆屬己愆。
二十一願怨我仇我時下消釋。
二十二願親我德我聽其自然。
二十三願卑者就下非洶非湧。
二十四願高者聳峙不騫不崩。
二十五願水陸禽蟲為麟為鳳。
二十六願山川草木成桂成蘭。
二十七願因親及親同赴帝京。
二十八願從劫至劫不墮凡流。
二十九願忍辱仁柔堅固道體。
三十願度人無量永證金身。
三十一願玄座說法天人悅慶。
三十二願讚詠洞章金仙雲從。
三十三願山林坡阪無復高下。
三十四願四維八極至邇非遐。
三十五願所有宮殿金玉成飾。
三十六願所經雲衢寶網交加。
三十七願鈞天妙樂隨光旋轉。
三十八願祥雲紫霧常護玉軒。
三十九願玉樹鮮花珠寶蒨燦。
四十願芝草綿負景秀丹田。
四十一願火棗交梨密綴林樹。
四十二願仙丹妙寶羅列後前。
四十三願陰陽和合非寒非暖。
四十四願華池頻浴何盈何淺。
四十五願所服裳衣無損無縫。
四十六願所食雲饌無欠無餘。
四十七願飛鳴應節皆中玄韻。
四十八願龍戲麟盤祥舞天端。
四十九願慈光遍燭有求必應。
五十願威德無極莫敢不從。
五十一願初證仙品各思踰舍。
五十二願願未登道勇往直前。
五十三願割愛學道為吾弟子。
五十四願行藥治病亦列仙班。
五十五願敷揚神功恢宏正化。
五十六願捨己血肉永斷慳食。
五十七願我願人願人願我願。
五十八願願亦非願非願亦願。
天尊即說偈曰。玉帝功德大。宏誓身如海。廣修無量劫。應證無上尊。十方悉皈依。仙佛神聖師。金童收雲錦。玉女納寶函。天龍常擁護。諸真不得聞。我為汝略說。大眾宜諦聽。
是時五老上帝。三元大帝。四大真人及諸仙眾。聞是偈已。各各歡喜。踴躍稽首。頂禮天尊。奉辭而退。
Source Colophon
The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 太上元始天尊說玉皇本願尊經, revision of 12 July 2009), inspected from a witness copy captured on 8 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.
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