Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dharani

The Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī, sometimes called the Pure Land Rebirth Mantra, is considered an important dhāraṇī in Pure Land Buddhism and other schools of Buddhism, mainly following the Mahayana tradition. The full name of this dhāraṇī is the Dhāraṇī for pulling out the fundamental cause of karmic obstacles and obtaining rebirth in the Pure Lands. It is also known as Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī, or Rebirth Mantra for short.
In East Asian Buddhism, reciting this dhāraṇī is believed to grant the reciter a peaceful and joyful life, and allow them to be reborn into the Buddha Amitabha's buddha-field of Ultimate Bliss, as well as to have a vision of Buddha Amitabha. It can also be recited to help the spirits of the animals that a person has killed in the past, including poultry, game, aquatic creatures, insects, etc. to ascend to a higher spiritual realm.

Overview

According to Chinese tradition, the Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī was transmitted and transliterated by Guṇabhadra and by Narendrayasas. It was popularized by a certain Dharma Master Xiu of Tianping Monastery in the Northern Qi capital of Ye (Hebei). The dhāraṇī was reproduced individually or appended to the end of the Amitābha Sūtra in some editions of the Chinese Buddhist Canon.
Chinese tradition associates the dhāraṇī with bodhisattva Nagarjuna, who is said to have received the dhāraṇī from Amitabha Buddha in a dream. Traditionally, Nagarjuna is also believed to have attained birth in the Pure Land through this dhāraṇī. The dhāraṇī may have been practiced by Pure Land patriarchs like Lushan Huiyuan, and it was also popularized by Amoghavajra at the Tang court.
According to two texts, one should bathe and clean one's mouth, light incense before a Buddha image, kneel with palms together and recite the dhāraṇī thirty seven times. This is to be repeated for the six periods of day and night. While the dhāraṇī's name indicates that its main function is rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati, reciting the dhāraṇī is also said to have many other positive benefits, such as the "pulling out the fundamental cause of karmic obstacles" and also protecting one from evil spirits and influences.
According to the dhāraṇī sutra attributed to Guṇabhadra:

If there is any good man or good woman who is able to recite this dhāraṇī, then Amitābha Buddha will constantly abide above their crown, protecting them day and night, never allowing hostile forces to find opportunity. In this present life they will constantly obtain peace and security. When the moment of death arrives, they will naturally and spontaneously attain rebirth .

This text also describes the benefits of reciting the dhāraṇī as follows:

the four grave transgressions, the five rebellious acts, the ten evil deeds, and even the sin of slandering the true Dharma—all will be eradicated. One will obtain all that one seeks in this life, and not be disturbed by malevolent spirits and demons. If one recites it up to 200,000 times, one will feel the emergence of the sprout of awakening. If one reaches 300,000 recitations, one will behold Amitābha Buddha face to face.

Amoghavajra’s Wuliangshou rulai guanxing gongyang yigui contains the standard edition of the long dhāraṇī, known as the fundamental dhāraṇī of Amitāyus Tathāgata . This longer dharani appears in numerous other sources of Tang esoterica. The most common term in the dhāraṇī is the Sanskrit amṛta, which is the term for the nectar of immortality in the Ṛg Veda and symbolizes eternal life. The term is also a synonym for Amitāyus. It is also connected to the tantric Buddhist idea of great bliss.
Aaron Proffit explains the benefits of the long version of the dhāraṇī according to Amoghavajra's tradition of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism as follows:

Chanting this dhāraṇī one thousand times is said to purify all past karma, bestow rebirth in the highest level of Sukhāvatī, and produce visions of Sukhāvatī, Amitāyus Buddha, and assemblies of bodhisattvas. From these honored ones, the practitioner will hear all of the sutras and, at the moment of death, attain rebirth in Sukhāvatī, emerging from a lotus blossom at the rank of a bodhisattva. At the end of life, one will certainly attain rebirth in Sukhāvatī, see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and quickly attain the highest level of bodhi. As in some of the other texts discussed previously, this dhāraṇī text describes a seven-jeweled chariot that transports one to Sukhāvatī. The Sanskrit term amṛta appears several times in this dhāraṇī and others. In the Ṛg Veda this term refers to the elixir of eternal life. The iconography of and texts associated with Amitābha/Amitāyus often describe this buddha as one whose Dharma serves as the ambrosia that grants eternal life. This is also connected to great bliss, which may refer in particular to the ultimate bliss attained through the practices found in the tantras.

In modern Chinese Buddhism, the dhāraṇī is usually recited 21, 27 or 49 times per day. In one type of group practice, participants usually recite this dhāraṇī three times after reciting the Heart Sutra or the Amitabha Sutra.

Texts

Short version

Sanskrit:
English:

Homage to Amitābha Tathagata.
Thus:
O producer of immortality,
O he whose state of existence is immortality,
O he who transcends immortality,
O he who transcends immortality,
O sky goer, O fame maker, Hail!

Some versions have amṛtasiddhaṃbhave instead of ''amṛtasaṃbhave.''

Alternative Sanskrit versions

Oskar Von Hinuber cites other versions from Central Asia such as:

namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya tadyathā amṛṛto-bhate amṛtasaṃbhave amitagaganakīrtakare svāhā

and

namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya tadyathā maṛte phu amṛte phu amṛtaviśodhane phu svāhā

Chinese with back-transcription

From CBETA's Gunabhadra edition :

Chinese with corresponding pinyin transcription

From CBETA's Gunabhadra edition :

Long version

The Sanskrit titles of this long version is called the Dhāraṇī of Amitāyus Tathāgata 無量壽如來根本陀羅尼 or the Sarvatathāgatāyurvajrahṛdaya-dhāraṇī.
It is found in various versions. Amoghavajra's Wuliangshou rulai guanxing gongyang yigui is "arguably one of the most influential Esoteric Pure Land texts in East Asia" according to Proffit. The Sanskrit of Amoghavajra's version is called Ārya Amitābha nāma dhāraṇī:

Namo ratna-trayāya,
Namaḥ āryā'mitābhāyā,
Tathāgatāyā'rhate samyak_saṃbuddhāya, tad_yathā,
Oṃ amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛta-saṃbhave amṛta-garbhe,
Amṛta-siddhe amṛta-teje amṛta-vikrānte,
Amṛta-vikrānta-gāmine amṛta-gagana-kīrti-kare,
Amṛta-dundubhi-svare sarvārtha-sādhane,
Sarva-karma-kleśa-kṣayaṃ-kare svāhā.

The Sanskrit of the dharani in the Stein collection print is:

Namo ratnatrayāya
Nama āryā'mitābhāya
tathāgatāyā'rhate saṃyaksaṃbuddhāya
Tadyathā:
oṃ amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛtasaṃbhave amṛtagarbhe
amṛtasiddhe amṛtateje amṛtavikrānte
amṛtavikrāntagāmini amṛtagaganakīrtikari
amṛtadun-dubhisvare sarvārthasādhani
sarvakarmakleśakṣayaṃkari svāhā
Aum, brum, hum

English:

Homage to the Three Jewels,
Homage to the noble Amitabha,
to the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the completely and perfectly awakened one.
Thus:
Oṃ O immortality, O maker of immortality! O born of immortality! O essence/embryo of immortality!
O immortality perfecting one! O the brilliance of immortality! O he who goes beyond immortality!
O he who goes beyond immortality and whose glory is infinite as the sky
O sound of the drum of immortality realizing benefit for all.
O he who destroys all karmic afflictions. Hail!

Other versions

An even longer expanded version was discovered in Dunhuang's Mogao Caves by Aurel Stein which contains the core long version of the dhāraṇī with further additions and dates to the Five Dynasties era.
According to Gergely Hidas, the xylograph was likely "produced to serve as amulets". He further adds that "as for the sequence of the incantations, after the prime dhāraṇī dedicated to the depicted deity, further formulas are included most probably to enhance the efficacy of the amulet. The designers of these talismans are likely to have been monastic people with knowledge of Sanskrit and an understanding of the spells used. These objects were probably meant for a Chinese-speaking lay clientele in exchange for donations and must have been folded, wrapped and worn on the body."

Sanskrit

Gergely Hidas' critical edition of the Sanskrit text is as follows:

namo ratnatrayāya | nama āryāmitābhāya tathāgatāyārhate saṃyaksaṃbuddhāya | tadyathā |
oṃ amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛtasaṃbhave amṛtagarbhe amṛtasiddhe amṛtateje amṛtavikrānte amṛtavikrāntagāmini amṛtagaganakīrtikari amṛtadun-dubhisvare sarvārthasādhani sarvakarmakleśakṣayaṃkari svāhā |
oṃ amoghavairocanamahāmudrāmaṇipadmajvāla pravartaya hūṃ|
oṃ bhara bhara saṃ bhara saṃbhara indriyaviśodhani hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā |
namo bhagavatoṣṇīṣāya | oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣ ṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhani svāhā |
ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ |
oṃ vajrakrodhana hūṃ jaḥ |
oṃ vajrāyuṣe svāhā |

English

Hidas' English translation :
1. Obeisance to the Three Jewels and Amitābha, The Sarvatathāgatāyurvajrahṛdayadhāraṇī

Veneration to the Three Jewels. Veneration to the noble Amitābha, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Awakened One. Namely, Oṃ O Immortality, O the One Arisen from Immortality, O Immortality-born, O Immortality-child, O Immortality-perfect, O Immortality-power, O Immortality-valour, O the One Acting by Immortality-valour, O Immortality-sky-fame-maker, O Immortality-kettledrum-sound, O the One who Accomplishes all Aims, O Destroyer of all Defilements originating from Actions svāhā.

2. The Prabhāsa-mantra

Oṃ O Light of the Jewel-lotus that is the Great Seal of the Unfailing Vairocana advance hūṃ.

3. The Mahāpratisarā-upahṛdayavidyā heart mantra

Oṃ provide, provide, support, support, O Purifier of the Abilities, hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā.

4. Obeisance to Uṣṇīṣa. The Tathāgatalocanā-mahāvidyā

Veneration to the glorious Uṣṇīṣa. oṃ ruru sphuru shine, stand by, O the One with Accomplished Eyes, O the One who Accomplishes all Aims svāhā.

5. The Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā

Those dharmas which arise from a cause, the Tathāgata has declared their cause, and that which is the cessation of them. Thus the great renunciant has taught.

6. The Ucchuṣma-mantra

Oṃ O Vajrakrodhana hūṃ jaḥ

7. The Āyurvardhanī-vidyā of Vajrāyus

Oṃ svāhā to Adamantine Life.

The Chinese text printed on the side of the dhāraṇī states:

This Great Vow of the Infinite Life is enormous and extensive.The Wish-fulfilling is whatever your heart wishes, it will necessarily follow. The Buddha Eye Mother is extraordinarily auspicious. The Consecrated Light can destroy the bad paths . The dragon-spirits protect the place where the Ucchuṣma-mantra is put. As for the Verse of the Dharma-body, those who wear it at the waist will be equal to the Buddhas. The four assemblies are universally encouraged to keep and wear this to create a karmic basis and it is also avowed that they ascend together to the true and eternal wonderful fruit.