This text, Toh 908, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs, e), are listed as being located in volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 101. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.
The internal title given for the dhāraṇī reads snying rje mi bshol ba in Toh 698 and thugs rje chen po mi bshol ba in Toh 908 in all recensions consulted. The Sanskrit title given in the Degé of Toh 698, kā ru ṇa a na vi laṃ (there is no Sanskrit title given in Toh 908 or in the Stok Kangyur recension) appears to be an attempted back-translation of snying rje mi bshol ba. Is the Sanskrit, perhaps, intending something like karuṇāvilambana?
Toh 908 omits the phrase “complete and” (yang dag par) and just reads “perfect buddhas” (rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas).
Here the Comparative Edition mistakenly transcribes the Degé of Toh 698 as reading gsos. The Degé itself reads gsol.
One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.
This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.
A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.
The Indic term
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.
The term dharma conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyāyukti. The primary meanings are as follows: the doctrine taught by the Buddha (Dharma); the ultimate reality underlying and expressed through the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma); the trainings that the Buddha’s teaching stipulates (dharmas); the various awakened qualities or attainments acquired through practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teaching (dharmas); qualities or aspects more generally, i.e., phenomena or phenomenal attributes (dharmas); and mental objects (dharmas).
A set of circumstances that do not provide the freedom to practice the Buddhist path: being born in the realms of (1) the hells, (2) hungry ghosts (pretas), (3) animals, or (4) long-lived gods, or in the human realm among (5) barbarians or (6) extremists, (7) in places where the Buddhist teachings do not exist, or (8) without adequate faculties to understand the teachings where they do exist.
An epithet of Avalokiteśvara.
Meaning “action” in its most basic sense, karma is an important concept in Buddhist philosophy as the cumulative force of previous physical, verbal, and mental acts, which determines present experience and will determine future existences.
A class of tantric scripture that generally features elaborate rites directed toward both mundane goals—such as health, prosperity, and protection—and the ultimate goal of liberation. In this class of tantra, the practitioners do not identify themselves with the deity as in other classes of tantra, but rather seek their power, assistance, and intervention in pursuit of their goals. The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa and Amoghapāśakalparāja exemplify this class of tantra.
Though often specifically reserved for the monastic community, this term can be applied to any of the four Buddhist communities—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—as well as to identify the different groups of practitioners, like the community of bodhisattvas or the community of śrāvakas. It is also the third of the Three Jewels (triratna) of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community.
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
snying rjes mi bshol ba’i gzungs (Kāruṇānavilaṃnāmadhāraṇī). Toh 698, Degé Kangyur vol. 93 (rgyud, rtsa), folios 149.b–150.a.
snying rjes mi bshol ba’i gzungs (Kāruṇaanavilaṃnāmadhāraṇī). Toh 908, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs, e), folios 239.a–240.a.
snying rjes mi bshol ba’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 93, pp. 421–24.
snying rje mi bshol ba’i gzungs. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 107 (rgyud, ma), folios 30.b–31.b.
The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is a short dhāraṇī text that includes several short dhāraṇīs and one longer dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara, spoken by an unidentified speaker along with the request for Avalokiteśvara to appear, pacify illness, purify karma, and provide protection from danger.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Catherine Dalton produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is a short dhāraṇī text in which an unidentified first-person speaker proclaims the dhāraṇī called “Unhesitating Great Compassion,” and makes the aspiration for Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva who embodies compassion, to appear. Further short dhāraṇīs are repeated along with the request for Avalokiteśvara to appear, to pacify illness, and to purify karma. The text also includes a much longer dhāraṇī with a request for protection from danger, harm, and illness.
This dhāraṇī text is one of several canonical texts that focus on Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva who embodies compassion, and like many works classified as dhāraṇī texts and kriyā tantras, it teaches the recitation of dhāraṇīs for pacifying and curative purposes.
A Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” does not appear to be extant, nor does it appear to have been translated into Chinese. The text does not appear in the imperial catalogs, nor at Dunhuang, and it lacks a translator’s colophon. In the absence of such a colophon, and since the text’s title does not appear in any of the imperial catalogs or at Dunhuang, we are unable to date the text or its Tibetan translation. However, nearly the same dhāraṇī, with some variants, appears in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara: The Net of Lotuses (Toh 681), where it is identified as the root vidyāmantra of a form of Avalokiteśvara named Unhesitating Compassion (thugs rje mi bshol ba). There, the whole dhāraṇī is given in Sanskrit transliteration, whereas in the present text, sections of what appears in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit transliteration are here translated into Tibetan, interspersed with sections of Sanskrit transliteration. The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara was translated into Tibetan in the eleventh or twelfth century, but as just noted, the rendering of the dhāraṇī in the present text has been approached differently than in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara, so the present dhāraṇī does not appear to have been extracted from the Tibetan translation of that tantra.
Like many dhāraṇī texts, The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is found in the Tantra section of both the Tshalpa and Thempangma lineage Kangyurs as a kriyā tantra. In the Degé Kangyur and other Tshalpa lineage Kangyurs that have a Dhāraṇī section, it is additionally found there. The text as found in the Tantra section of the Degé Kangyur (Toh 698) and in the Dhāraṇī (Toh 908) section does have some minor differences. In brief, Toh 698 includes slightly expanded phrasing of the same passages in comparison with Toh 908 (e.g., yang dar par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas in Toh 698 vs. rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas in Toh 908), elimination of doubled phrases in some (but not all) passages, a slightly more condensed colophon, and somewhat different punctuation throughout. All of this suggests that, while the two represent the same translation, Toh 908 seems to have been edited. Toh 698 also has a Sanskrit title added at the beginning, whereas Toh 908 does not. The dhāraṇī itself is the same with only minor orthographic variation. The recension preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur matches Toh 908 rather than Toh 698.
The title given at the incipit and in the colophon of both Degé recensions reads snying rjes mi bshol ba’i gzungs, “The Dhāraṇī: Unhesitating Due to Compassion.” The title in the incipit in the Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Kangyurs, and in the colophon in both Lhasa and Stok, reads snying rje mi bshol ba’i gzung, “The Dhāraṇī: Unhesitating Compassion,” which also follows the internal reading for the name of the dhāraṇī given in all recensions consulted in giving the nominative rather than the agentive case ending. This also corresponds with the name of the form of Avalokiteśvara associated with this dhāraṇī in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara. We therefore prefer the nominitive reading and have followed this reading thoughout our translation, as well as in the Tibetan title given on the title page.
This English translation was made based on both recensions of the text found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference also to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the notes from the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur. In the places where there are minor variations between the two Degé recensions, as described above, our translation follows Toh 698, and we have noted in the footnotes all variants in Toh 908 that would affect the translation of the passage. In addition, the dhāraṇīs are rendered exactly as they appear in the Degé Kangyur recension from the Tantra section (Toh 698).
“Homage to the Three Jewels.
Homage to the seventy million complete and perfect buddhas.
Homage to the great compassionate bodhisattva great being Avalokiteśvara, liberator from all harm, pacifier of all illness, averter of all bhūtas, and true liberator of all beings who have fallen into the eight unfree states.
“Following this homage, I will repeat this dhāraṇī uttered by noble Avalokiteśvara, called unhesitating great compassion:
“May the Great Compassionate One turn his attention to me! May he turn his attention to me!
“tadyathā | oṁ jata jata jiti jiti jutu jutu tara tara tiri tiri turu turu kala kala kili kili kulu kulu |
“May the Great Compassionate One, the great embodiment of all the tathāgatas, turn his attention to me and come here! May he come here!
“cata cata citi citi cutu cutu |
“May the Great Compassionate One turn his attention to the cloudbanks of aspirations made by all the bodhisattvas and swiftly come here! May he swiftly come here!
“rala rala rili rili rulu rulu |
“May he arise from the ground of concentrations, liberations, absorptions, and attainments! May he arise!
“cala cala cili cili culu culu bodhi bodhi ehi ehi budha budha |
“May he arise due to the truth of the Buddha, the truth of the Dharma, and the truth of the Saṅgha! May he arise! With great love may he avert all bhūtas! With cloudbanks of great compassion may he completely pacify all my illnesses!
“dhuna dhuna vidhuna vidhuna mathā mathā pramatha pramatha |
“May he arise! May he arise! Come here! Come here! May you fulfill my wishes! May you purify karma!
“mahākāruṇikāya svāhā | mahāpadmahastāya svāhā | padma āsanāya svāhā | śvetājñā upavītiya svāhā| kiritani svāhā | śūlane svāhā | cakrane svāhā | vajrane svāhā | trine treyaprahaṁrūpāya svāhā | ākāśāya svāhā | śini śini svāhā | pracavataye svāhā | yamaye svāhā | yamabhudaya svāhā | āṇḍajebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā | jarayujebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā |
saṁsvedacchebhyobhudebhyaḥ svāhā | upayupapaduḥkhebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā | vitikabhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | vaidhitakebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | ṣphaṣṇakebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | sananipatikebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | sarvabuddho svāhā| sarvabhyatibhyaḥ svāhā | bhume antarīṣicaryebhyobhyaḥ svāhā |
“tadyathā | oṁ traṭa traṭa triṭi triṭi truṭu truṭu |
“Protect me from all danger, harm, and illness! Protect me! svāhā |
“grasa grasa matha matha pramatha pramatha hana hana daha daha paca paca namaḥ āryāvalokiteśvara ājañpayati svāhā |”
This concludes the dhāraṇī of the great compassionate noble Avalokiteśvara called “unhesitating compassion.”
The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is a short dhāraṇī text that includes several short dhāraṇīs and one longer dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara, spoken by an unidentified speaker along with the request for Avalokiteśvara to appear, pacify illness, purify karma, and provide protection from danger.
This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Catherine Dalton produced the translation and wrote the introduction. Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Sameer Dhingra was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is a short dhāraṇī text in which an unidentified first-person speaker proclaims the dhāraṇī called “Unhesitating Great Compassion,” and makes the aspiration for Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva who embodies compassion, to appear. Further short dhāraṇīs are repeated along with the request for Avalokiteśvara to appear, to pacify illness, and to purify karma. The text also includes a much longer dhāraṇī with a request for protection from danger, harm, and illness.
This dhāraṇī text is one of several canonical texts that focus on Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva who embodies compassion, and like many works classified as dhāraṇī texts and kriyā tantras, it teaches the recitation of dhāraṇīs for pacifying and curative purposes.
A Sanskrit witness of The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” does not appear to be extant, nor does it appear to have been translated into Chinese. The text does not appear in the imperial catalogs, nor at Dunhuang, and it lacks a translator’s colophon. In the absence of such a colophon, and since the text’s title does not appear in any of the imperial catalogs or at Dunhuang, we are unable to date the text or its Tibetan translation. However, nearly the same dhāraṇī, with some variants, appears in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara: The Net of Lotuses (Toh 681), where it is identified as the root vidyāmantra of a form of Avalokiteśvara named Unhesitating Compassion (thugs rje mi bshol ba). There, the whole dhāraṇī is given in Sanskrit transliteration, whereas in the present text, sections of what appears in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit transliteration are here translated into Tibetan, interspersed with sections of Sanskrit transliteration. The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara was translated into Tibetan in the eleventh or twelfth century, but as just noted, the rendering of the dhāraṇī in the present text has been approached differently than in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara, so the present dhāraṇī does not appear to have been extracted from the Tibetan translation of that tantra.
Like many dhāraṇī texts, The Dhāraṇī “Unhesitating Compassion” is found in the Tantra section of both the Tshalpa and Thempangma lineage Kangyurs as a kriyā tantra. In the Degé Kangyur and other Tshalpa lineage Kangyurs that have a Dhāraṇī section, it is additionally found there. The text as found in the Tantra section of the Degé Kangyur (Toh 698) and in the Dhāraṇī (Toh 908) section does have some minor differences. In brief, Toh 698 includes slightly expanded phrasing of the same passages in comparison with Toh 908 (e.g., yang dar par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas in Toh 698 vs. rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas in Toh 908), elimination of doubled phrases in some (but not all) passages, a slightly more condensed colophon, and somewhat different punctuation throughout. All of this suggests that, while the two represent the same translation, Toh 908 seems to have been edited. Toh 698 also has a Sanskrit title added at the beginning, whereas Toh 908 does not. The dhāraṇī itself is the same with only minor orthographic variation. The recension preserved in the Stok Palace Kangyur matches Toh 908 rather than Toh 698.
The title given at the incipit and in the colophon of both Degé recensions reads snying rjes mi bshol ba’i gzungs, “The Dhāraṇī: Unhesitating Due to Compassion.” The title in the incipit in the Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Kangyurs, and in the colophon in both Lhasa and Stok, reads snying rje mi bshol ba’i gzung, “The Dhāraṇī: Unhesitating Compassion,” which also follows the internal reading for the name of the dhāraṇī given in all recensions consulted in giving the nominative rather than the agentive case ending. This also corresponds with the name of the form of Avalokiteśvara associated with this dhāraṇī in The Sovereign Root Tantra of Noble Avalokiteśvara. We therefore prefer the nominitive reading and have followed this reading thoughout our translation, as well as in the Tibetan title given on the title page.
This English translation was made based on both recensions of the text found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference also to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the notes from the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur. In the places where there are minor variations between the two Degé recensions, as described above, our translation follows Toh 698, and we have noted in the footnotes all variants in Toh 908 that would affect the translation of the passage. In addition, the dhāraṇīs are rendered exactly as they appear in the Degé Kangyur recension from the Tantra section (Toh 698).
“Homage to the Three Jewels.
Homage to the seventy million complete and perfect buddhas.
Homage to the great compassionate bodhisattva great being Avalokiteśvara, liberator from all harm, pacifier of all illness, averter of all bhūtas, and true liberator of all beings who have fallen into the eight unfree states.
“Following this homage, I will repeat this dhāraṇī uttered by noble Avalokiteśvara, called unhesitating great compassion:
“May the Great Compassionate One turn his attention to me! May he turn his attention to me!
“tadyathā | oṁ jata jata jiti jiti jutu jutu tara tara tiri tiri turu turu kala kala kili kili kulu kulu |
“May the Great Compassionate One, the great embodiment of all the tathāgatas, turn his attention to me and come here! May he come here!
“cata cata citi citi cutu cutu |
“May the Great Compassionate One turn his attention to the cloudbanks of aspirations made by all the bodhisattvas and swiftly come here! May he swiftly come here!
“rala rala rili rili rulu rulu |
“May he arise from the ground of concentrations, liberations, absorptions, and attainments! May he arise!
“cala cala cili cili culu culu bodhi bodhi ehi ehi budha budha |
“May he arise due to the truth of the Buddha, the truth of the Dharma, and the truth of the Saṅgha! May he arise! With great love may he avert all bhūtas! With cloudbanks of great compassion may he completely pacify all my illnesses!
“dhuna dhuna vidhuna vidhuna mathā mathā pramatha pramatha |
“May he arise! May he arise! Come here! Come here! May you fulfill my wishes! May you purify karma!
“mahākāruṇikāya svāhā | mahāpadmahastāya svāhā | padma āsanāya svāhā | śvetājñā upavītiya svāhā| kiritani svāhā | śūlane svāhā | cakrane svāhā | vajrane svāhā | trine treyaprahaṁrūpāya svāhā | ākāśāya svāhā | śini śini svāhā | pracavataye svāhā | yamaye svāhā | yamabhudaya svāhā | āṇḍajebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā | jarayujebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā |
saṁsvedacchebhyobhudebhyaḥ svāhā | upayupapaduḥkhebhyobhutebhyaḥ svāhā | vitikabhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | vaidhitakebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | ṣphaṣṇakebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | sananipatikebhyobhyadhyibhyaḥ svāhā | sarvabuddho svāhā| sarvabhyatibhyaḥ svāhā | bhume antarīṣicaryebhyobhyaḥ svāhā |
“tadyathā | oṁ traṭa traṭa triṭi triṭi truṭu truṭu |
“Protect me from all danger, harm, and illness! Protect me! svāhā |
“grasa grasa matha matha pramatha pramatha hana hana daha daha paca paca namaḥ āryāvalokiteśvara ājañpayati svāhā |”
This concludes the dhāraṇī of the great compassionate noble Avalokiteśvara called “unhesitating compassion.”