Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī
The ', also known as the ', or Great Compassion Dhāraṇī / Mantra, is a Mahayana Buddhist dhāraṇī associated with the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.
The dhāraṇī was originally a recitation of names and attributes of the deity Nīlakaṇṭha, a Buddhist adaptation of Harihara said to have been recited by Avalokiteśvara, who was sometimes portrayed as introducing popular non-Buddhist deities into the Buddhist pantheon by reciting their dhāraṇīs. Over time, such deities became considered to be the various forms or incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, who was described in texts such as the Lotus Sutra as manifesting himself in different forms according to the needs of different individuals; the dhāraṇī thus came to be considered as addressed to Avalokiteśvara as Nīlakaṇṭha, now understood to be a manifestation of the bodhisattva. From Nīlakaṇṭha Avalokiteśvara, this particular dhāraṇī eventually became associated with another of Avalokiteśvara's forms, namely the thousand-armed one, and became attached to Buddhist texts concerning the thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara.
Different versions of this dhāraṇī, of varying length, exist; the shorter version, as transliterated into Chinese characters by Indian monk Bhagavaddharma in the 7th century, enjoys a high degree of popularity in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, especially in Chinese Buddhism, comparable to that of the six-syllable mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, which is also synonymous with Guanyin, who is Avalokiteśvara as venerated in China and other East Asian countries. It is often used for protection or purification. In China, Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities, it is typically chanted as part of daily morning liturgical services in Chinese Buddhist temples as well as recited during ritual and ceremonial contexts to purify the ritual space. In Korea, copies of the dhāraṇī are hung inside homes to bring auspiciousness. In Japan, it is especially associated with Zen, being revered and recited in Zen schools such as Sōtō or Rinzai.
Versions
Various different recensions of this dhāraṇī are in existence, which can be classified into two main versions: the shorter text and the longer text.Chinese
The text currently considered to be the standard in most of East Asia is the shorter version, specifically the one found in the so-called 'Sūtra of the Vast, Perfect, Unimpeded Great-Compassionate Heart of the Thousand-Handed Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Avalokitasvara's Dhāraṇī' translated by a monk from western India named Bhagavaddharma between 650 and 660 CE.Twelve scrolls of texts in Chinese were found at Dunhuang along the Silk Road in today's Gansu province of China. One of the texts contains a colophon at the end: "Translated at Khotan by the śramaṇa Bhagavaddharma of Western India". The milieu of this transliteration is evident from Bhagavaddharma's rendering of the word Nīlakaṇṭha as 'Narakindi', a Central Asian form of the Sanskrit word.
Other notable Chinese versions of the dhāraṇī include:
- Two versions by or attributed to esoteric Buddhist teacher Vajrabodhi: 'Copy of the Vast, Perfect, Unimpeded Great-Compassionate Heart of the Thousand-Handed Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Avalokitasvara's Dhāraṇī' and 'Ritual Recitation Manual on the Vajraśekhara Yoga on the Great Compassionate King Nīlakaṇṭha Avalokiteśvara' The former contains a Chinese transliteration of the dhāraṇī and its corresponding Sanskrit version, with the latter being an esoteric ritual manual.
- Three versions of the dhāraṇī proper by or attributed to Vajrabodhi's disciple Amoghavajra: The Thousand-Handed Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Avalokitasvara's Great-Compassionate Heart Dhāraṇī is an extract from Bhagavaddharma's version, with interlinear glosses and an accompanying explanation of the forty hands of the Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara, each with a mantra of its own; Sutra of the Bodhisattva Nīlakaṇṭha Avalokiteśvara's Heart Dhāraṇī is a new transliteration, followed by a description of the iconography of Nīlakaṇṭha-Avalokiteśvara and his particular mudra; and The Greatly Merciful Greatly Compassionate Bodhisattva Avalokitasvara-lokeśvararāja's Vast, Perfect, Unimpeded Great-Compassionate Heart of Nīlakaṇṭheśvara Dharani is a Sanskrit -Chinese interlinear version with glosses.
- A version of the dhāraṇī proper by 14th century by Dhyānabhadra with the title Dhāraṇī of the Vast, Perfect, Unimpeded Great-Compassionate Heart of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara Unlike the aforementioned versions, Dhyānabhadra's text is based on the longer form of the dhāraṇī.
- Two translations by a monk named Zhitōng made between 627 and 649, both entitled Sūtra of the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Avalokitasvara's Mystic Dhāraṇī This is the earliest of the Chinese "Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara" sutras. Despite the title, the sutra's dhāraṇī is completely different from the Nīlakaṇṭha dhāraṇī found in other versions.
- A translation made by north Indian monk Bodhiruci in 709 entitled Sūtra of the Thousand-Handed Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva-mother Avalokitasvara's Dhāraṇī-body Bodhiruci's version contains the same dhāraṇī as Zhitōng's.
Tibetan
A third version was made by Changkya Rölpé Dorjé in the 18th century. While claimed to be a reconstruction of Zhitōng's text using a Tibetan version as a base, Changkya Rölpé Dorjé's text actually completely follows the Tibetan readings, with significant differences from Chödrup's version in a number of places, rather than Zhitōng's.
Others
A manuscript fragment dating from around the 8th century containing the longer version of the dhāraṇī in both late Brahmi and Sogdian scripts was discovered by Sir Aurel Stein in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang and published by Robert Gauthiot and Louis de La Vallée-Poussin in 1912.The dhāraṇī's title is given in this manuscript as 1 LPw δsty ʾʾryʾβṛʾwkδʾyšβr nyṛknt nʾm tʾrny "the dhāraṇī of the names of Āryāvalokiteśvara-Nīlakaṇṭha with a thousand hands." The text shows a very close affinity to that found in Vajrabodhi's T. 1061 text. The dhāraṇī is followed by a short, unidentified mantra named wyspw ʾʾγδʾk δβrʾynʾk δrzyʾwr ptsrwm "hṛdaya mantra fulfilling all the wishes."
Background
Nīlakaṇṭha-lokeśvara
According to author Lokesh Chandra, the dhāraṇī in its original form was a recitation of the names of the deity Nīlakaṇṭha recited by the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara: "Avalokiteśvara was responsible for introducing popular deities into the Buddhist pantheon by pronouncing their dhāraṇīs which averted evils to the person who obtained his wishes as soon as he recited it." In Vajrabodhi's longer version, the dhāraṇī is explicitly referred to as Āryāvalokiteśvara-bhāṣitaṃ "uttered by noble Avalokiteśvara;" at this stage, Avalokiteśvara is portrayed as pronouncing the dhāraṇī, but is not identified with Nīlakaṇṭha.As late as the 15th century, the tradition knew at least that Avalokiteśvara is the dhāraṇī's locutor, as is clear from a Chinese manual of the liturgical service of the thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara, presented to the Oriental scholar Samuel Beal by the monks of Hoi Tong Monastery on Henan Island. Its preface, authored by the Ming emperor Yongle, says thus:
It is reported by Kwan Tseu Tsai Bodhisattva, prompted by her great compassionate heart has engaged herself by a great oath to enter into every one of the innumerable worlds, and bring deliverance to all creatures who inhabit them.
For this purpose she has enunciated the Divine sentences which follow, if properly recited, will render all creatures exempt from the causes of sorrow, and by removing them, render them capable of attaining Supreme Reason.
During the process of transmission, however, Nīlakaṇṭha became increasingly identified with Avalokiteśvara, so that the dhāraṇī eventually became understood as being addressed to Avalokiteśvara as Nīlakaṇṭha, now considered to be one of Avalokiteśvara's various forms or manifestations - most of whom were themselves originally folk deities who were assimilated into Avalokiteśvara upon being integrated into Buddhist belief and practice.
The dhāraṇī proper contains a number of titles associated with the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, suggesting that Nīlakaṇṭha was in origin Harihara - a fusion of Vishnu and Shiva - assimilated into Buddhism.
This is more explicit in the longer version of the dhāraṇī, where Nīlakaṇṭha is invoked with more names and epithets associated with the two gods such as Tripūra-dahaneśvara, and Padmanābha as well as a short description of the iconography of Nīlakaṇṭha Avalokiteśvara in Amoghavajra's version, which combines elements from depictions of Shiva and Vishnu.
Other examples are found in the following section:
The status of Shiva and Vishnu in the dhāraṇī follows a similar pattern to the one identified in the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra : the two gods are repeatedly invoked one after the other, indicating that they stand in a "complementary" relationship to each other. At the same time, however, Shiva is portrayed as the dominant of the two.
File:Dazu rock carvings - Baodingshan, 大足石刻-宝顶山摩崖造像, Chongqing, 2023.jpg|thumb|Tang dynasty rock statue of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin at Baodingshan at the Dazu Rock Carving in Chongqing, China.