The Great Compassion Dharani

Another dharani I was reading about lately is the Great Compassion Dharani, also known as the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, or in Japanese Buddhism the daihishin darani (大悲心陀羅尼), also known more simply as the daihishu (大悲咒), among other names.

According to Wikipedia, this is one of widely recited dharani across the Buddhist tradition, and has undergone various changes over time, with a couple extant (though corrupted) versions. The featured photo above is an example found in the Dunhuang caves of China, showing the original text in Siddham script, with Chinese transliteration:

You can see another example here, using both Siddham script, and the ancient Sogdian script:

Whereas the Dharani for the Prevention of Disaster (discussed in a previous post) is focused on practical matters, the Great Compassion Dharani is meant to be chanted in order to awaken goodwill towards others, using Kannon Bodhisattva as the archetype. It is taken from a longer Buddhist text, the Sutra on the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara’s Sutra of Dharanis on the Vast, Perfect, and Unobstructed Mind of Great Compassion (千手千眼観世音菩薩広大円満無礙大悲心陀羅尼経).

This dharani is most closely associated the Zen traditions, but because it is pretty long, it’s probably not always practical for lay followers to recite in daily services. I have not seen it listed in service books for lay followers in either Soto Zen or Rinzai Zen. In any case, I am posting it here as a reference.

You can see an example of the Great Compassion Dharani being chanted in a formal Soto Zen service here:

There is a nice Chinese-language version here (starts at 1:07):

I have posted the dharani here in multiple languages, so that people can choose which version they prefer to recite. The main source was Wikipedia, but for the Chinese Pinyin, I had to check multiple websites as the pinyin varied slightly in some places, while for the Japanese version, I checked line by line in the video above.

Sanskrit (Amoghavajra version)	Original Chinese	Chinese Pinyin1	Japanese Romaji (Soto Zen)
namaḥ ratnatrayāya	南無喝囉怛那哆囉夜耶	Nā mo hē là dá nà duō là yè yé	Na mu ka ra tan no to ra ya ya
nama āryā	南無阿唎耶	Ná mó ā lì yē	Na mu o ri ya
valokite śvarāya	婆盧羯帝爍缽囉耶	Pó lú jié dì shuò bō là yē	Bo ryo ki chi shi fu ra ya
bodhi satvaya	菩提薩埵婆耶	Pú tí sà duǒ pó yē	Fu ji sa to bo ya
mahā satvaya	摩訶薩埵婆耶	Mó hē sà duǒ pó yē	Mo ko sa to bo ya
mahā kāruṇikāya	摩訶迦盧尼迦耶	Mó hē jiā lú ní jiā yē	Mo ko kya ru ni kya ya
oṃ sarvarbhaye sutnatasya	唵薩皤囉罰曳數怛那怛寫	Ǎn sà pó là fá yì shù dá nā dá xià	En sa ha ra ha ei shu tan no ton sha
namo skṛtva imaṃ āryā	南無悉吉慄埵伊蒙阿唎耶	Ná mó xī jí lì duǒ yī méng ā lì yē	Na mu shi ki ri to i mo o ri ya
valokite śvara raṃdhava	婆盧吉帝室佛囉愣馱婆	Pó lú jí dì shì fó là léng tuó pó	Bo ryo ki chi shi fu ra ri to bo
namo narakiṇḍi	南無那囉謹墀	Ná mó nā là jǐn chí	Na mu no ra kin ji
hriḥ maha vadhasame	醯利摩訶皤哆沙咩	Xī lì mó hē pó duō shā miē	Ki ri mo ko ho do sha mi
sarva athadu yobhuṃ	薩婆阿他豆輸朋	Sà pó ā tuō·dòu shū péng	Sa bo o to jo shu ben
ajiyaṃ	阿逝孕	Ā shì yùn	O shu in
sarvasatā nama vastya namabhāga	薩婆薩哆那摩婆薩哆那摩婆伽	Sà pó sà duō ná mó pó sà duō ná mó pó qié	Sa bo sa to2 no mo bo gya
mārvdātuḥ	摩罰特豆	Mó fá tè dòu	Mo ha te cho
tadyathā	怛姪他	Dá zhí tuō	To ji to
oṃ avalohe	唵阿婆盧醯	Ān ā pó lú xī	En o bo ryo ki
lokāte	盧迦帝	Lú jiā dì	Ryo gya chi
karate ihriḥ	迦羅帝夷醯唎	Jiā luó dì yí xī lì	Kya rya chi i ki ri
mahā bodhisatva	摩訶菩提薩埵	Mó hē pú tí sà duǒ	Mo ko fu ji sa to
sarva sarva	薩婆薩婆	Sà pó sà pó	Sa bo sa bo
mālā mala	摩囉摩囉	Mó là mó là	Mo ra mo ra
mahemahe ṛdayaṃ	摩醯摩醯唎馱孕	Mó xī mó xī lì tuó yùn	Mo ki mo ki ri to in
kuru kuru karmaṃ	俱盧俱盧羯蒙	Jù lú jù lú jié méng	Ku ryo ku ryo ke mo
dhuru dhuru vjayate	度盧度盧罰闍耶帝	Dù lú dù lú fá shé yē dì	To ryo to ryo ho ja ya chi
mahā vjayate	摩訶罰闍耶帝	Mó hē fá shé yē dì	Mo ko ho ja ya chi
dhara dhara	陀囉陀囉	Tuó là tuó là	To ra to ra
dhiriṇi	地唎尼	Dì lì ní	Chi ri ni
śvarāya	室佛囉耶	Shì fó là yē	Shi fu ra ya
cala cala	遮囉遮囉	Zhē là zhē là	Sha ro sha ro
mama vmāra	摩麼罰摩囉	Mó mó fá mó là	Mo mo ha mo ra
muktele	穆帝隸	Mù dì lì	Ho chi ri
ihe īhe	伊醯伊醯	Yī xī yī xī	Yu ki yu ki
śina śina	室那室那	Shì nā shì nā	Shi no shi no
araṣaṃ phraśali	阿囉參佛囉舍利	Ā là shēn fó là shě lì.	O ra san fu ra sha ri
vsa vsaṃ	罰沙罰參	Fá suō fá shēn	Ha za ha za
phraśaya	佛囉舍耶	Fó là shě yē	Fu ra sha ya
huru huru mara	呼嚧呼嚧摩囉	Hū lú hū lú mó là	Ku ryo ku ryo mo ra
hulu hulu hrīḥ	呼嚧呼嚧醯利	Hū lú hū lú xī lì	Ku ryo ku ryo ki ri
sara sara	娑囉娑囉	Suō là suō là	Sha ro sha ro
siri siri	悉唎悉唎	Xī lì xī lì	Shi ri shi ri
suru suru	蘇嚧蘇嚧	Sū lú sū lú	Su ryo su ryo
bodhiya bodhiya	菩提夜菩提夜	Pú tí yè pú tí yè	Fu ji ya fu ji ya
bodhaya bodhaya	菩馱夜菩馱夜	Pú tuó yè pú tuó yè	Fu do ya fu do ya
maiteriyā	彌帝唎夜	Mí dì lì yè	Mi chi ri ya
narakinḍi	那囉謹墀	Nā là jǐn chí	No ra kin ji
dhiriṣṇina	地利瑟尼那	Dì lì sè ní nā	Chi ri shu ni no
payāmāna	波夜摩那	Pō yè mó nā	Ho ya mo no
svāhā siddhāyā	娑婆訶悉陀夜	Suō pó hē xī tuó yè	So mo ko shi do ya so mo ko
svāhā mahā siddhāyā	娑婆訶摩訶悉陀夜	Suō pó hē mó hē xī tuó yè	So mo ko mo ko shi do ya
svāhā siddha yoge śvarāya	娑婆訶悉陀喻藝室皤囉耶	Suō pó hē sī tuó yù yì shì pó là yē	So mo ko shi do yu ki shi fu ra ya
svāhā narakiṇḍi	娑婆訶那囉謹墀	Suō pó hē nā là jǐn chí	So mo ko no ra kin ji
svāhā māranara	娑婆訶摩囉那囉	Suō pó hē mó là nā là	So mo ko mo ra no ra
svāhā sira siṃ amukhāya	娑婆訶悉囉僧阿穆佉耶	Suō pó hē xī là sēng ā mù qié yē	So mo ko shi ra su o mo gya ya
svāhā sava maha asiddhāyā	娑婆訶娑婆摩訶阿悉陀夜	Suō pó hē suō pó mó hē ā xī tuó yè suō pó hē	So mo ko so bo mo ko o shi do ya
svāhā cakra asiddhāyā	娑婆訶者吉囉阿悉陀夜	Suō pó hē zhě jí là ā xī tuó yè	So mo ko sha ki ra o shi do ya
svāhā padma kastāyā	娑婆訶波陀摩羯悉陀夜	Suō pó hē bō tuó mó jié xī tuó yè	So mo ko ho do mo gya shi do ya
svāhā narakiṇḍi vagaraya	娑婆訶那囉謹墀皤伽囉耶	Suō pó hē nā là jǐn chí pó qié là yē	So mo ko no ra kin ji ha gya ra ya so mo ko
svāhā mavali śaṅkrayā	娑婆訶摩婆利勝羯囉夜	Suō pó hē mó pó lì shèng jié là yè	So mo ko mo ho ri shin gya ra ya
svāhā namaḥ ratnatrayāya	娑婆訶南無喝囉怛那哆囉夜耶	Suō pó hē ná mó hé là dá nā duō là yè yē	So mo ko na mu ka ra tan no to ra ya ya
namo āryā	南無阿唎耶	Ná mó ā lì yē	Na mu o ri ya
valokte	婆嚧吉帝	Pó lú jí dì	Bo ryo ki chi
śva rāya svāhā	爍皤囉夜娑婆訶	Shuò pó là yè suō pó hē	Shi fu ra ya so mo ko
Oṃ sidhyantu mantra	唵悉殿都漫多囉	Ān xī diàn dū màn duō là	Shi3 te do mo do ra
padāya svāhā	跋陀耶娑婆訶	Bá tuó yě suō pó hē	Ho do ya so mo ko

Side note, there is a different version in the Japanese Shingon-Buddhist tradition, but I am too lazy to post here, since the dharani is so long. You can find it here on the Japanese Wikipedia article under “真言宗の読み方”.

June 2025: Major rewrite of this page to make the text side-by-side, but also fixed several typos.

¹ Sources used to validate the pinyin: here and here, plus Wikipedia article. Each one slightly disagreed with one another, and my Chinese language skills are very limited, so I had to make a best guess in a few cases where things seemingly contradicted. It’s also possible that certain Chinese characters just have multiple pronunciations.

² For some reason, the Soto Zen version doesn’t have the words 那摩婆薩哆 (nama vastya / ná mó pó sà duō).

³ Similarly, the Soto Zen version doesn’t have the final “om” (唵, ān) in it.