Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani Sutra

The Dhāraṇī

The Heart-dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara-ekadaśamukha Sūtra

The text introduces the heart dhāraṇī of the Bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara, as the following lines, translated by Prof. Abe indicate:

世尊我此神咒有大威力。(Bhagavat [World-Honored One, the Buddha], this dhāraṇī of mine [Avalokiteśvara] is impregnated with magnificent power.)
若誦一遍即能除滅四根本罪。(A single recitation will instantaneously eliminate the four cardinal sins)
及五無間令無有餘。(and release all the sinners in the five eternal hells.)
況能如說而修行者。(How much greater power will be attained by the practitioner who studies it as I will describe now!)

Later, the Bodhisattva states:

若有稱念百千俱胝那庾多諸佛名號。復有暫時於我名號至心稱念。彼二功德平等平等。諸有稱念我名號者。一切皆得不退轉地。離一切病脫一切障一切怖畏。及能滅除身語意惡。況能於我所說神咒。受持讀誦如說修行。
(There may be a practitioner who recites the names of all the Buddhas for hundreds, thousands, millions and billions of times. However, if there is a practitioner who recites my name even for a short moment, the latter's merit will equal that accrued, by the practice of the former.... Then much how much greater merit will be attained, by those who chant my dhāraṇī, memorize it and practice it as I will describe now!

The sutra is used in various Buddhist ceremonies, including the famous Shuni-e ceremony at Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. There is no full English translation.

Heart-dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara-ekadaśamukha

The Heart-dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara-ekadaśamukha (Chinese:聖十一面觀自在菩薩根本咒/十一面觀音心咒) is the dhāraṇī introduced in Heart-dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara-ekadaśamukha Sūtra. Below is the romanized Sanskrit from Indian monk Amoghavajra (around 750 AD) version, Taishō T20n1069_001:

namo ratnatrayāya namaḥ āryajñānasāgra-vairocanabhyuhārajaya tathāgatāyārhate samyaksaṃbuddhāya namaḥsarvatathāgatebhyorhatebhyaḥ samyaksaṃbuddhebhyaḥ namaḥāryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisatvāya mahāsatvāya mahākāruṇikāya tadyathā oṃ dhara dhiri dhuru ite vate śale praśale kusume kusumavale iri viri ciriti jaramapanaya paramaśuddha satva mahākāruṇika svāhā

Ekadaśamukha-sūtra

A third version must also be mentioned here. It differs slightly from that of Amoghavajra's quoted above. Here is the romanised version in Sanskrit IAST.

In fact, the Devanagari text is identical to that of Dutt, completed by the IAST transcription :

namo ratnatrayāya ǀ 南无佛陀耶 南无达摩耶 南无僧伽耶

— 南无若那娑伽罗 namo vairocanāya tathāgatāya ǀ 毘卢遮那耶 多他伽多耶, nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya mahākāruṇikāya ǀ 南无阿利耶跋路 吉帝摄婆罗耶 菩提萨埵耶 摩诃萨埵耶 摩诃伽楼腻伽耶 namaḥ atītānāgatapratyutpa (nnebhyaḥ) sarvatathāgatebhyo'rhad bhyaḥ samyaksaṃbuddhebhyaḥ ǀ 南无萨婆哆他伽帝毘耶 阿罗诃陀毘耶 三藐三佛提毘耶 om (dhara dhara dhiri dhiri) ǀ 多侄他, 唵 陀罗陀罗 地利地利 dhuru dhuru ǀ 豆楼 豆楼 iṭṭe viṭṭe ǀ 壹知 跋知 cale cale ǀ 遮离 遮离 pracale pracale ǀ 钵遮离 钵遮离 (kusume) kusumavare ǀ 鸠蘇咩 鸠蘇摩婆离 ili mili viṭi svāhā ǀ 伊利弥利脂致 莎诃 evaṃ mūlamantraḥ ǀǀ

Benefits of reciting the dhāraṇī

In the sutra, Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva explains the benefits which come from reciting the dhāraṇī.

Ten main benefits:

1. One's body will be free from illness.
2. One will be constantly remembered by the Buddhas of the ten directions.
3. All wealth, clothing, and food will naturally be abundant without lack.
4. One will be able to defeat all enemies.
5. One will instill compassion in all sentient beings.
6. No poison or fever will be able to harm one.
7. No weapons will be able to injure one.
8. One will not be swept away by water-related disasters.
9. One will not be burned by fire-related disasters.
10. One will not experience untimely death.

Four additional results in this life:

1. At the time of death, one will see the Buddhas of the ten directions.
2. One will never fall into the hells.
3. One will not be harmed by any wild beasts.
4. After death, one will be reborn in the Land of Infinite Life (Amitābha's Pure Land).

Furthermore, the sutra also promises the state of Avinivartaniya (non-retrogression on the path of the bodhisattva, meaning one will not fall back to an earlier state of spiritual development).

Relationship to the Great Compassion Mantra

It is generally believed that this dhāraṇī has no direct relationship with the Great Compassion Mantra, or Nīlakantha dhāranī in Mahayana Buddhism. However, it is often falsely named as Tibetan Great Compassion Mantra (藏傳大悲咒) or The Great Compassion Mantra in Sanskrit (梵音大悲咒).

In Chinese-speaking countries and in Vietnam, the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara Heart dhāraṇī Sutra is as popular as the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, so much so that they are often confused with each other. The confusion probably arises from the fact that the two dhāraṇī, though distinct, are also referred to by the same alternative title: Great Compassion Mantra. Their respective texts are very different, having only their reference to Avalokitesvara in common.

Some people believe that the dhāraṇī is told by the Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara, an esoteric bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism, and that it is the equivalent Tibetan version of The Great Compassion Mantra in Mahayana Buddhism. This is why it is often being referred to as Tibetan Great Compassion Mantra, while the sung text currently discussed is in Sanskrit. However, this opinion is not accepted by most Mahayana Buddhists.

The title Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani Sutra is due to the Japanese historian Ryuichi Abe. The dhāraṇī is also known with the title Tibetan Great Compassion Mantra (藏傳大悲咒), which suggests a Tibetan.

In Buddhist music

About the text

The sung version presents several variants between the three known versions in Sanskrit, in Chinese and Tibetan, as already mentioned (see section "Several versions").

The text of the sung version of the dhāraṇī (only in Sanskrit) appears in N. Dutt's Gilgit Manuscripts, volume I p. 148 of the digitized version accessible via archive.org, the Chinese is that of Amoghavajra already mentioned, and the Tibetan is by an unidentified translator. The lyrics of this sung version are always interpreted in Sanskrit, regardless of the countries and interpreters.

One Song Two titles

There are several musical scores, whose tempo varies (slow or fast) depending on the performers. The chanting of this dhāraṇī is one of the most popular and famous piece of Buddhist music in Chinese-speaking countries and in Vietnam. Its popularity is probably due to the fact that it sung by famous Asian performers among Buddhists, such as the Nepalese-Tibetan bhikkhunī Ani Chöying Drölma, or the Malaysian-Chinese singer Imee Ooi.

However, many recordings of this chant is falsely named Tibetan Great Compassion Mantra (藏傳大悲咒) or The Great Compassion Mantra in Sanskrit (梵音大悲咒) by Chinese-language publishing brands.

Following the development of the internet in recent decades, the number of online postings by religious organisations is constantly increasing. Tens of thousands of sites offer the same interpretation, sometimes choreographed, some of which have several million views.

The fact that a dharani including in its title: Avalokiteśvara with eleven faces is the subject of a real craze to the point of being assimilated to the "Nīlakaṇṭha" can easily be understood. Indeed, the scholar Lokesh Chandra wrote:

The Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara with eleven heads is the most popular form. The number of heads increases to twenty five, and sometimes the crown bears upto five hundred heads.

English translation

Here is the English translation of the most popular sung text in Chinese speaking countries and in Vietnam, realized from the romanized Sanskrit (or IAST) Amogavajra's version. The numbers in brackets have been added, as the sentences (or verses) in the original are not numbered:

1. Namo Ratna Trayāya (Homage to the Triple Gem)
2. Namaḥ Ārya Jñāna Sāgara (Homage to the ocean of noble wisdom)
3. Vairocana (The Luminous One or The Illuminator)
4. Vyūha Rājāya (To the King of the Manifestations.)
5. Tathāgatāya (To the Tathāgata)
6. Arhate (To the Arhat)
7. Samyaksam Buddhāya (To the perfectly awakened one)
8. Namo Sarwa Tathāgatebhyaḥ (Homage to all Tathāgatas)
9. Arahatabhyah (To the Arhats)
10. Samyaksam Buddhebhyaḥ (To the fully and perfectly awakened ones )
11. Namo Arya Avalokiteśvarāya (Homage to Noble Avalokiteśvara )
12. Bodhisattvāya (To the Bodhisattva)
13. Mahasattvāya (To the Great)
14. Mahakarunikāya (To the Greatly Compassionate one)
15. Tadyathā. Ōṃ (Thus. Om)
16. Dhara Dhara, Dhiri Dhiri, Dhuru Dhuru (Sustain us, Sustain us, Sustain us )
17. Iṭṭe vitte ( May we have the strength )
18. Cale Cale (or Itte cale) ( To move forward, to move forward )
19. Pracale Pracale ( To move forward further, to move further along the path )
20. Kusumē, Kusumavare ( Where to pick the fruits .)
21. Ili Milli Citi jvalam Apanāye. Svāhā. (Who bring the blazing understanding. Hail!).

• Ani Chöying Drölma is a Nepalese-Tibetan Buddhist bhikkhunī. In concert and recordings, she performs the sung version of the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara Heart dhāraṇī Sutra, in Sanskrit, but entitled Namo Ratna Great Compassion Mantra.
• Imee Ooi is a Malaysian-Chinese singer, who has recorded the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara Heart dhāraṇī Sutra in Sanskrit, but entitled Arya Ekadasa-Mukha Dharani which she also performs in concert.