Where the dhāraṇī sits in the sūtra
The sūtra tells that the Buddha Śākyamuni was at the Jewel-Adorned place of practice; in that assembly Avalokiteśvara asked to speak the great compassion dhāraṇī and recited it, beginning Namo ratna trayāya (Nam mô hắc ra đát na đá ra dạ gia in the Vietnamese reading). After the dhāraṇī the sūtra continues with the bodhisattva explaining its nature to the Great Brahmā king: a mind of great kindness and compassion, of equality, of non-contrivance.
Vietnamese daily-chanting books usually divide the dhāraṇī into 84 lines to chant with the wooden fish. The quotation below keeps the paragraphing of the library's translation and does not renumber the lines.
The story that leads to the dhāraṇī
The sūtra opens in Avalokiteśvara's palace on Mount Potalaka, before an assembly of bodhisattvas, disciples, gods, the eight kinds of beings and many deities. Avalokiteśvara silently sends out a light that fills the ten directions; the bodhisattva Dhāraṇī King sees the wonder and asks the Buddha about it, and the Buddha answers that this bodhisattva has perfected great kindness and compassion over countless ages.
Avalokiteśvara recalls that countless ages ago the Buddha Thousand-Light King Tranquil Abiding spoke this dhāraṇī, touched his head and told him to uphold it for beings of later times. He then vowed that if he could benefit beings with it, his body would at once have a thousand hands and a thousand eyes — and as soon as the vow was made, they appeared. The name Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed that goes with the dhāraṇī comes from this passage.
The vows the sūtra asks for before chanting
Before the dhāraṇī itself, the sūtra asks whoever wishes to recite it to arouse compassion for all beings and then, following the bodhisattva, to make ten vows, each opening with Homage to the greatly compassionate Avalokiteśvara: may I soon know all dharmas, gain the eye of wisdom, bring beings across, gain skilful means, board the boat of prajñā, cross the sea of suffering, attain the way of precepts and concentration, climb the mountain of nirvāṇa, return to the unconditioned home and share the body of the dharma-nature. After the vows, it says to call the name of Avalokiteśvara with a whole heart and the name of his own teacher, the Buddha Amitābha, and only then to recite the dhāraṇī.
What the dhāraṇī looks like
After the dhāraṇī, the Great Brahmā king asks what the dhāraṇī looks like. The bodhisattva answers: a mind of great kindness and compassion, of equality, of non-contrivance, of non-attachment, of emptiness, of respect, of humility, free of confusion, free of grasping, and the unsurpassed mind of awakening — these are its features, and whoever recites it should practise accordingly. The sūtra places the dhāraṇī within the cultivation of compassion and the mind of awakening, not apart from daily practice.
