The AmitÃÂbha Sà «tra (Ch.: é¿å½ÂéÂÂç¶Â, pinyin: ÃÂmÃÂtuó Jëng, or ä½Â說é¿å½ÂéÂÂç¶Â, Fóshuà  ÃÂmÃÂtuó Jëng; Jp.: Amida Kyà Â, Vi.: A Di ÃÂàKinh), also known as the [Shorter] SukhÃÂvatëvyà «ha Sà «tra (Sanskrit, The Array of "the Blissful Land", or The Arrangement of SukhÃÂvatë) is one of the two Indian Mahayana sutras that describe SukhÃÂvatë, the Pure Land of AmitÃÂbha.The text was translated into Chinese in 402 by KumÃÂrajëva (Taishà  Tripiá¹Âaka no. 366) and it is also known in Chinese as the "Small Sutra" (Xiaojing).
The AmitÃÂbha Sà «tra is highly influential in East Asian Buddhism, including China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam since it is considered one of the "Three Pure Land" sutras which are the key scriptures in Pure Land Buddhism.
The AmitÃÂbha Sà «tra was translated from an Indic language into Classical Chinese by Tripiá¹Âaka master KumÃÂrajëva in 402. The original SukhÃÂvatëvyà «ha sutras may have existed in India as early as the first or second centuries CE (during the Kushan era). They may have been composed in Gandhari or some other Prakrit language. A later translation of this sutra was completed by Xuanzang (602-664 C.E.), but it is not as widely used as KumÃÂrajëva's, which is the standard edition in the East Asian tradition.
The sutra was commented on by numerous East Asian authors. The 7th century Pure Land patriarch Shandao commented on the sutra in his Fashizan æ³ÂäºÂè® (Praise for Dharma Rites), which focuses on the rites associated with the recitation of the sutra. It was also commented on by Sengzhao (384âÂÂ414), Zhiyi (538âÂÂ597 CE), Wohnyo, Huijing (578-645 CE) and Kuiji (632-682 CE).
The work of these figures raised the status of the AmitÃÂbha Sà «tra, and it became a central text in Chinese Buddhism. Today, it remains a very popular sutra in East Asian Buddhism. Its short length has also contributed to it becoming a widely chanted sutra in Buddhist temples and monasteries.
Later Chinese figures continued to comment on the sutra. During the Song dynasty, Yuanzhao (Chinese: å Âç §, 1048âÂÂ1116) composed a commentary that draws on the various views found in Tiantai and in Shandao. Later in the Ming dynasty, the Eighth Patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land tradition, Yunqi Zhuhong (1535âÂÂ1615), composed an influential commentary called the Foshuo Amituo jing shumiao (ä½Â說é¿å½ÂéÂÂç¶ÂçÂÂéÂÂ) which explains the sutra from the perspective of Huayan's teaching of principle and phenomena. Another Ming era commentary called the Foshuo Amituo jing yaojie (ä½Â說é¿å½ÂéÂÂç¶Âè¦Â解) was later written by the Ninth Patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land tradition, Ouyi Zhixu (1599âÂÂ1655), and has been translated into English as Mind Seal of the Buddhas by J.C. Cleary. The revivalist and Thirtieth Patriarch of the Tiantai tradition Youxi Chuandeng (1554-1628), who was a teacher of Ouyi Zhixu, also wrote a Ming-era commentary called the Amituo Jing lüjie yuanzhong miao (é¿å½ÂéÂÂç¶Âç¥解åÂÂä¸ÂéÂÂ) which explains the explains the sutra from the perspective of Tiantai doctrines. The three Ming-era commentaries were later highly endorsed by various eminent monks, including the Thirteenth Patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land tradition, Yinguang (1862âÂÂ1940), and remains very influential in contemporary Chinese Pure Land tradition. The entire sà «tra is still chanted as part of daily liturgical services during the evening service (known as the wanke) on odd-numbered days in most Chinese Buddhist temples.
In Japan, Hà Ânen also commented on the work along with the other Pure Land sutras. The influential Japanese Pure Land thinker Shinran (1173- 1263) also wrote a series of notes and marginalia to a copy of the sutra, which is now known as the Amida-kyà  chà « (é¿弥éÂÂçµÂ註).
In Vietnam, the monk (1628 - 1715) wrote a vernacular exegesis on the AmitÃÂbha Sà «tra, his commentary was later compiled into a work entitled (å½ÂéÂÂç¶ÂéÂÂ解è¯è¨Â).
A study in English of both the Amitabha and the Amitayus sutras (known as the "longer" SukhÃÂvatëvyà «ha in Sanskrit) was also published by Luis O. Gomez in 1996.
The bulk of the SukhÃÂvatëvyà «ha Sà «tra, considerably shorter than other Pure Land sutras, consists of a discourse that Gautama Buddha gave at Jetavana in à ÂrÃÂvastë to his disciple à ÂÃÂriputra. The teaching concerns the wonderful adornments and features found in the buddhafield (or "pure land") of SukhÃÂvatë ("the Blissful"), including jeweled ponds, colorful jeweled lotuses, raining flowers, jeweled trees that make Dharma sounds, and so on. It also discusses the beings that reside there, including the Buddha AmitÃÂbha (meaning "Measureless Light" or "Boundless Radiance"), who is said to be so called because "the light of the TathÃÂgata AmitÃÂbha shines unimpeded throughout all buddha realms".
The text also describes what one must do to be reborn in SukhÃÂvatë. In the sutra, à ÂÃÂkyamuni teaches that one must vow to be born in SukhÃÂvatë and single-mindedly focus on Buddha AmitÃÂbha, and then after death they will be reborn in the pure land. The key passage which describes these instructions states (translation from the Sanskrit edition):<blockquote>Moreover, O à ÂÃÂriputra, beings should make vows towards that buddha-land. Why? Because, indeed, they come together with good people of such forms. O à ÂÃÂriputra, beings do not arise in the buddha-land of AmitÃÂyus TathÃÂgata by insignificant wholesome roots. O à ÂÃÂriputra, whichever son of good family or daughter of good family, will hear the name of that BhagavÃÂn, AmitÃÂyus TathÃÂgata, and having heard it will think of it, or will think of it with a mind that is undistracted for one night, or two nights, or three nights, or four nights, or five nights, or six nights, or seven nights, when that son of good family or daughter of good family will die, at their time of death, that AmitÃÂyus TathÃÂgata, surrounded by a saá¹ gha of à ÂrÃÂvakas and headed by a chain of bodhisattvas will stand before them and they will die with an undisturbed mind. Having died, they will arise in the world system SukvÃÂvatë, the Buddha-land of just that AmitÃÂyus TathÃÂgata.àTherefore, then, O à ÂÃÂriputra, seeing this intention, I thus say: a son of good family or a daughter of good family should devotedly make vows of aspiration towards that Buddha-land. </blockquote>The Buddha then describes the various buddhas of the six directions and how they also teach the same teaching on rebirth in SukhÃÂvatë in their own buddhalands. Hence, the Buddha explains how an alternative title to this sutra is "Embraced by all Buddhas", since all Buddhas expound the teaching of faith in the pure land.
The sutra ends with the Buddha stating that this teaching is actually very difficult to believe, calling it "the most difficult of difficulties" and "the Dharma which is the most difficult to accept by all the world."
Multiple English translations of the various editions (Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan) have been completed and published.