Sūtra:
"Furthermore, Ānanda, in the case of kṣatriya princes who are due to be anointed on the crowns of their heads, at a time when calamity arises, such as pestilence among the population, invasion by foreign countries, rebellion within their territories, unusual changes in the stars, a solar or lunar eclipse, un-seasonal winds and rains, or prolonged drought, those ksatriya princes should bring forth an attitude of kindness and compassion toward all sentient beings and grant amnesty to all prisoners. They should follow the above-mentioned methods to make offerings to that World Honored One, Medicine Master Vaiḍūrya light Tathāgata. Due to these good roots and the power of that Tathāgata's past vows, the country will be safe and peaceful, the winds and rains will be timely, the crops will ripen, and all sentient beings will be blissful and free of disease. Within this country there will be no violence, nor any yakṣas or other spirits that harm sentient beings, and all evil
omens will vanish."

Commentary:
The merit and virtue of this Sūtra is inconceivable. If you recite this Sūtra, disasters and evil ghosts will not be able to harm you. Furthermore, Ānanda, in the case of kṣatriya princes who are due to be anointed on the crowns of their heads... The kṣatriyas [warrior class] and Brahmans [priestly class] were the upper classes in the ancient class structure of India. Among the kṣatriyas, there were crown princes, who were ritually anointed on the crowns of their heads when they became kings.

At a time when calamity arises, there may be events such as droughts, floods, fires, severe windstorms, pestilence among the population, epidemics of locusts or of deathly, infectious diseases, invasion by foreign countries, or rebellion within their territories. There may be subversive factions working against the government.

There may be unusual changes in the stars, such as stars becoming abnormally large or taking on a strange appearance, stars disintegrating, or comets coming close to the earth. Such stellar aberrations are the cause of wars, floods, fires, epidemics, and other disasters in the world.

A solar or lunar eclipse. For no apparent reason, the sun or the moon may vanish from view in an eclipse. The sunlight vanishes, or the cool, refreshing light of the full moon disappears and one sees a fiery tinge. The hot sun appears to grow cold, and the cool moon appears to warm up. These are also abnormal phenomena.

Unseasonal winds and rains. The rains and winds come when they are not supposed to. When it rains, it pours; and when the wind blows, it's a huge gale－a hurricane that topples houses. Or a prolonged drought. There may be great floods or frequent droughts.

If such disasters happen, those kṣatriya princes who are due to be anointed as kings should become deeply repentant. They should be like King Tang of the Shang dynasty, who said, "1, Lu, this small child, offer a black bull to the Supreme Sovereign Lord. If I have offenses, my people are not to blame. If my people have offenses, let their offenses rest with me." If the people committed crimes, the king felt he was to blame because he had failed to teach them well. In his appeal to Heaven, King Tang acknowledged his own mistakes.

Those who are to be consecrated as kings should bring forth an attitude of kindness and compassion toward all sentient beings. They should reflect, "Why are these disasters happening? It must be because I am lacking in compassion." Then they should grant amnesty to all prisoners, including those sentenced to death. They should follow the above-mentioned methods to make offerings to that World Honored One, Medicine Master Vaiḍūrya Light Tathāgata.

Due to these good roots gained from making offerings to Medicine Master Vaiḍūrya Light Tathāgata and the power of that Tathāgata's past vows, the country will be peaceful and safe, free from trouble, the winds and rains will be timely. There is a saying describing this:

There’s a wind every five days,
And a rain every ten days.
The wind doesn't make the branches cry out,
And the rain doesn't break up the clumps of sod.

When the wind blows, it doesn't cause the willow branches to make swishing sounds. It doesn't make the trees sound as if they were weeping. "The rain doesn't break up the clumps of sod" means it's a fine drizzle. There is another verse:

A fine drizzle gives the streets an oily sheen.
In the distance, you can see the appearance of grass-
And yet, as you walk closer, there's nothing there.
Spring is the best time of the year:
Superb views of misty willows all over the capital.

The fine drizzle, which is compared to oil, moistens the myriad plants so that they thrive luxuriantly. This kind of rain is so gentle that it doesn't even break up clumps of dirt. It's not a violent storm that topples houses, uproots trees, and injures people.

The winds and rains will be timely, and the crops will ripen. There will be abundant harvests of all the various grains. And all sentient beings will be blissful and free of disease. Within this country there will be no violence. Murder, arson, robbery, and other violent crimes will be unknown in the land. Such things happen now, unfortunately, because we have been born in a violent age. Our lives are fraught with fear and insecurity. Nor any yakṣas or other spirits that harm sentient beings. Yakṣas are "speedy ghosts.” No malevolent ghosts or spirits will come to cause trouble, and all evil omens will vanish.

Sūtra:
“The kṣatriya princes who are due to be anointed on the crowns of their heads will enjoy longer lives and good health, and they will be at ease and free from illness. Ānanda, if the queens, the princes, the ministers or court counselors, the ladies of the palace, the provincial officials or the common people suffer from diseases or other difficulties, they should also hang up five-colored spiritual banners, light lamps and keep them burning, liberate living creatures, strew flowers of various colors, and bum precious incense. Then those people will be cured of their diseases and relieved of their difficulties.

Then Ānanda asked the Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates, “Good man, how can a life that has come to an end be prolonged?

The Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates answered, ”GreatIy Virtuous One, did you not hear the Tathāgata say that there are nine kinds of untimely death? That is why people are exhorted to make life-prolonging banners and lamps and to cultivate all kinds of blessings. Through such cultivation of blessings, they will be freed from suffering and adversity for the rest of their lives."

Commentary:
The kṣatriya princes who are due to be anointed on the crowns of their heads will enjoy longer lives and good health, and they will be at ease and free from illness. Ānanda, if the queens, the princes, the ministers or court counselors, the ladies of the palace, the provincial officials or the common people suffer from diseases or other difficulties, they should also hang up five-colored spiritual banners, light forty-nine lamps and keep them burning before seven statues of Medicine Master Buddha, as a way to make offerings to him. They should liberate living creatures that were destined for slaughter.

They should also strew flowers of various colors as an offering to that Buddha and burn precious incense, such as aloe-wood incense and chandana incense, especially incense of chandana wood from Mount Oxhead. Then those people will be cured of their diseases and relieved of their difficulties.

Then Ānanda, wishing to request more Dharma on behalf of living beings, asked the Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates, "Good man, how can a life that has come to an end be prolonged? How is it possible that a dying person can extend his life and become healthy again? What's the principle behind this? I don't understand."

The Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates answered, "Greatly Virtuous One, did you not hear the Tathāgata say that there are nine kinds of untimely death? Haven't you heard the Buddha explain that there are nine kinds of death caused by accidents and disasters? Since you have heard it, you will know that that is why, in the Buddhist Sūtras, all people are exhorted to make life-prolonging, five-colored, spiritual banners and forty-nine life-prolonging, spiritual lamps and to cultivate all kinds of blessings. Through the merit and virtue of such cultivation of blessings, they will be freed from suffering and adversity for the rest of their lives. They will not meet with the nine kinds of untimely deaths."

Sūtra:
Ānanda asked, "What are the nine kinds of untimely death?"

The Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates said, "There may be living beings who, although not seriously ill, have neither medicine nor a doctor to treat them, or else they meet a doctor who gives them the wrong medicine; consequently, they meet with an untimely death. Some of them believe in worldly cults, whose deviant teachers frighten them with false prophecies. Unable to set their minds at ease, they consult oracles to find out what calamities are in store for them. In order to propitiate the spirits, they kill various creatures. They pray to wang liang ghosts for aid and protection. Although they wish to prolong their lives, their efforts are to no avail. They deludedly hold to wrong beliefs and perverse views. Thus they meet with an untimely death and fall into the hells, never to come out. This is the first kind of untimely death."

Commentary:
After Ānanda heard the Bodhisattva's answer, he said, " Although I have heard this before, will you please explain it for me again in greater detail? That way, living beings of the future can also listen to the explanation." He asked, "What are the nine kinds of untimely death?"

The Bodhisattva Who Rescues and Liberates said, "There may be living beings who, although not seriously ill, suffering from only a slight cold, a cough, or some other minor ailment have neither medicine nor a doctor to treat them, or else they meet a doctor who gives them the wrong medicine; consequently, they meet with an untimely death. Perhaps their doctor turns out to be a quack who "cures" them to death by prescribing the wrong medicine. Maybe the doctor prescribes eye medication for a stomach ache, or headache pills for a sore throat. Or perhaps he gives them the wrong injection or performs the wrong operation, so they end up dying earlier than they were supposed to.

Some of them believe in worldly cults whose deviant teachers frighten them with false prophecies. They believe in fortune-tellers, astrologers, geomancers, and so on. The leaders of such deviant cults are actually demons, ghosts, and goblins, who try to alarm people, making false predictions such as: "You'd better not go out for a hundred days, or you might have a car accident!" "Your husband is fooling around on the side, did you know that?" They turn people into nervous wrecks and then tell them, "If you pay me $200,000, I can get you out of trouble."

Unable to set their minds at ease, they consult oracles to find out what calamities are in store for them. These people consult fortune-tellers: "Please take a look at my fortune. Are there any troubles in store for me?" "No problem; three hundred dollars, please!" says the fortune-teller. Ha! Three hundred dollars and your problems will be solved! In order to propitiate the spirits, they kill various creatures. The fortune-teller says, "Make a sacrifice of a cat or seven rats, and then I'll report your meritorious deed to King Yama, and he'll pardon your offense."

They pray to wang liang ghosts for aid and protection. People pray to the ox-headed and horse-faced ghosts, the limei, and wang liang, for protection and longevity, but actually, these ghosts "protect" them by causing them to die sooner!

Although they wish to prolong their lives, their efforts are to no avail. Their prayers to these ghosts are in vain. They deludedly hold to wrong beliefs and perverse views. This is nothing but superstition! They are confused and extremely stupid, with no wisdom at all. Thus they meet with an untimely death and fall into the hells, never to come out. They had hoped to live longer, but they only hasten their death. After they die they will fall into the hells forever, because of their extremely deviant beliefs and their wish to lengthen their lives at the expense of others. This is the first kind of untimely death.

Sūtra:
"The second kind of untimely death is to be executed at the hands of the law. The third kind is to hunt for sport, to indulge in drinking and lust, or to become excessively dissipated, and then to be waylaid by nonhuman beings that rob one's essence and energy. The fourth is to be burned to death; the fifth is to drown; the sixth is to be devoured by wild beasts; the seventh is to fall from a steep cliff; the eighth is to be harmed by poison, voodoo, evil mantras, or corpse-raising ghosts; the ninth is to die from hunger and thirst. These are the nine kinds of untimely deaths generally spoken of by the Tathāgata. There are also innumerable other kinds which cannot all be spoken of here."

Commentary:
The second untimely kind of death is to be executed at the hands of the law. Law enforcement officials may arrest you without bothering to determine whether the charges against you are true. You are killed regardless of whether you committed the crime. This is a kind of retribution.

The third kind is to hunt for sport. Hunters shoot down deer, birds, or other animals for sport, treating animals as playthings. Some people indulge in drinking and lust, being promiscuous and not following the rules of propriety. People who drive while intoxicated risk losing their lives in a car accident, which is also a kind of untimely death. Or one may become excessively dissipated so that, unable to restrain oneself, one steps beyond the bounds of proper behavior. And then one is waylaid by nonhuman beings that rob one's essence and energy. These non-human beings, which refer to Ii, mei, and wang Iiang ghosts, goblins, demons, sprites of the hills and rivers, and other weird beings, consume people's essence and energy as if they were eating vitamins. These unruly and unprincipled beings deprive others of essence and energy in order to prolong their own lives. This is the third kind of untimely death.

The fourth is to be burned to death in a great blaze. Perhaps one's house is set on fire. The fifth is to drown; the sixth is to be devoured by wild beasts. One might be tom to pieces by wolves, tigers, or crocodiles, bitten by a snake, or swallowed by a whale. The seventh is to fall from a steep cliff and be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.

The eighth is to be harmed by poison, voodoo, evil mantras, or corpse-raising ghosts. There is a practice of witchcraft in which someone makes a straw doll containing a slip of paper with the victim's time and date of birth inside it, and then shoots arrows at the doll for one hundred days, after which time the victim dies. There are evil mantras that can be used to cause the victim to go crazy and try to commit suicide. There are also mantras that cause ghosts to "raise corpses" and make them walk at night. In the eighth kind of untimely death, one is killed by poison, hexes, secret mantras, and so forth.

The ninth is to die of hunger and thirst. Some people suffer from thirst or starvation and eventually die of it. These are the nine kinds of untimely deaths generally spoken of by the Tathāgata. There are also innumerable other kinds which cannot all be spoken of here. If one were to go into all the other kinds of accidents and disasters, there would be no end. It would be difficult to explain them all.

Many people in this world undergo the nine kinds of untimely death, because they were not careful to plant good causes. For example, someone may take the wrong medicine in this life because he poisoned someone in a previous life. If one planted the evil cause of cheating others in a past life, one may die from taking the wrong medicine, receiving the wrong shot, getting the wrong surgery, or some other accident in this life.

The second kind of untimely death is to be executed at the hands of the law. The law is supposed to be fair and just, but sometimes people are condemned and put to death without any justifiable grounds.

The third kind of death involves hunting. When hunters go into the woods, the birds and beasts know that their lives are in peril, but they cannot escape. How can we witness their cruel deaths and still consider hunting a sport? How can we justify taking other creatures' lives for our own amusement? When people indulge in drinking and debauchery, their natures become confused. At that point, non-human beings are attracted to them and rob them of their essence and energy, stealing their "gasoline."

In the fourth kind, one is roasted alive because one enjoyed barbecued and roast meat in past lives. If you barbecue others, others will barbecue you!

The fifth kind of death is by drowning, which is the retribution for having drowned beings in past lives. For instance, you may have drowned ants. Maybe I, this tiny ant, drowned in the past because of you! As retribution for drowning others, you get to put yourself in their shoes! You swallow a lot of water until your belly is bloated like a drum, and then you die.

The sixth kind of untimely death is to be devoured by wild beasts. Such is the retribution for cruel-hearted connoisseurs of such "delicacies" as "fruit-foxes," monkeys' brains, bears' paws scorched in the fire, or live fish that are still flopping around. These gourmets ate such beings with great relish, so now animals devour their flesh, commenting, "Mmm. Delicious! Your flesh is quite tasty, and your blood isn't bad, either." The animals fight over the gourmets' flesh, making a feast out of them.

The seventh kind of death is to fall over a cliff, which may be a retribution for having robbed others in past lives. Perhaps you found that stealing a person's wallet wasn't enough, so you pushed him over a cliff. I had some classmates who were pushed over a cliff during their school days. Luckily for them, they believed in the Buddha, and so they didn't fall all the way down and were able to climb back up.

The eighth kind is death by poisoning, voodoo, evil mantras, or corpse-raising ghosts. Those who plotted to poison others or control them with hexes in previous lives are themselves poisoned or hexed in this life. As is the cause, so will be the effect. Each kind of karma brings its corresponding retribution. In the practice of witchcraft, a doll is used to represent the victim. The doll may contain a strand of the victim's hair, a piece of their fingernail, or a paper with their birthdate. It may be shot at with arrows, set on fire, or buried, symbolizing the manner of death of the victim. As for corpse-raising ghosts, those who employ mantras to make the ghosts raise corpses may say, "Tonight you must walk one hundred miles. I'll be waiting for you at such-and-such a place." Then, controlled by the mantra, the corpse obediently walks just like a live person for a hundred miles.

The ninth kind is death from hunger, thirst, cold, or heat. In times of famine, starving people laugh hysterically, as if saying, "Do you see me? I'm suffering the retribution for having starved living beings in the past. Don't follow my example!" The law of cause and effect is never off in the slightest. There is nothing unfair about" accidental" deaths; they are simply retribution for past bad karma as determined by the law of cause and effect.

Sūtra:
"Moreover, Ānanda, King Yama keeps track of the karmic records of all the inhabitants of the world. If there are beings who are not filial to their parents, who commit the Five Rebellious Acts, who revile the Triple Jewel, who destroy the laws of the country, or who violate the precept of truthfulness, then Yama, the king of justice, examines and punishes them according to the severity of their offenses. Therefore, I encourage people to light lamps and make banners, to liberate beings and cultivate blessings so that they can overcome suffering and peril and forestall all disasters."

At that time, twelve great yakṣa generals were present in the assembly. They were: General Kumbhira, General Vajra, General Mihira, General Andira, General Anila, General Sandira, General Indra, General Pajra, General Makura, General Kinnara, General Catura, and General Vikarala.