聖觀自在菩薩功德讚

I take refuge in the most victorious Avalokiteśvara

Whose beautiful full-moon countenance appears upon the Lotus

Who is able to bestow Fearlessness upon all sentient beings

Now do I extol and praise that Merit and Virtue

In whom all Wholesome Dharmas are completely fulfilled

Upon his head he bears the crown of the Buddha's Great Wisdom

Adorned with the merit of the Most Supreme Honored One

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer (Padmapāṇi)

His two cheeks are full and round, of a fair rosy hue

His nose is high and straight, a truly dignified mark

His teeth are like white jade (Snow-Conch), even and close-set

His two fangs are upright and perfectly complete

His Brahma-Voice is clear and pure, profoundly deep

All who hear it give rise to love and reverence

Whenever he expounds in every language

Gentle, kind, and wholesome, truly sweet and tender

Ever wielding the power of the skillful means of Great Compassion

He delivers and saves all suffering sentient beings

A Teacher who benefits himself and benefits others

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

His two brows resemble the new crescent moon

His bodily form is like the color of purple-gold

Strung with every jewel as adornment

All who behold him never grow weary of the sight

He spreads a deerskin robe to make his seat

He is the Honored One among the host of the Victorious Sovereign

Every part and feature of his body is full and round

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

Fine and supreme silk forms his sash

Maṇi gem-jewels form his earrings

In the adornment of jewels, both Worldly and World-Transcending

He is most supreme, sovereign, most honored and victorious

All wholesome merits and virtues are perfectly fulfilled in him

He is the Great Dharma King of the World

Able to open every kind of Gate of Skillful Means

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The sins and karma of sentient beings are as numberless as dust

For immeasurable kalpas more they wander on in saṃsāra

The Bodhisattva ever gives rise to the Mind of Skillful Means

Transforming and delivering them, leading them back into the assembly of Wisdom

He casts forth the light of Loving-Kindness and Compassion to illumine all

He brings the Most Supreme Dharma to sentient beings

Causing every being to realize Bodhi

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

However many the Great Avīci Hells there are

The Compassionate Bodhisattva manifests his body and arrives

He destroys those realms, leaving nothing remaining

The hell-wardens of Yama give rise to fear and dread

The various sentient beings who suffer that karma

All depart from suffering, their sins eliminated

He is able to use the Fire of Wisdom to burn away the evil paths

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

Complete in Wisdom, Compassion, Conduct, Vow, and Power

He manifests his body within the Desire Realm and the Form Realm

In the Dharma of Sovereign Mastery he benefits the multitude of beings

The retinue of Yama all become joyful

He destroys all the realms of sin and karma

Causing the various sufferings and afflictions never to arise again

Sentient beings depart from suffering and attain coolness and ease

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

Now do I praise and extol the Great Holy One

Whose form and features are most victorious, with nothing to equal them

The Unobstructed Sovereign, Honored One of the Three Realms

He bestows upon all sentient beings Fearlessness (no longer afflicted by anything dreadful)

He rescues sentient beings from the sea of suffering

He severs the very roots of the three poisons of affliction

And causes them all to abide in peace and joy

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The entire host of the hungry ghosts

With small throats and great gullets, their bodies foul and stinking

Beings of this kind are countless in number

Day and night they are ever tormented by hunger and thirst

Because the fire of hunger and thirst manifests and oppresses them

Devouring one another, they give rise to suffering and affliction

The Bodhisattva, by the Power of his Vow of Loving-Kindness and Compassion

Manifests his body and arrives there to rescue and relieve them

First he transforms forth every kind of food and drink

Causing them to be full and satisfied, their bodies grown stronger

Then he further expounds the Gate of the True Dharma

So that all are able to depart from every suffering and affliction

The Bodhisattva, with the skillful means of Compassion and Wisdom

Is able to enter every kind of being throughout the various paths

Working together for their benefit and embracing sentient beings

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

Upon his body he bears the Great Maṇi gem-jewel

Which ever pours forth a wondrous, pure radiance

Illumining everywhere the dark places of the World

Its light eclipses the Sun and Moon, so that they cannot appear

The entire host of Yakṣas and Rākṣasas

Relying upon the shining of that radiance, all take refuge

He contemplates the minds of sentient beings and severs their doubts

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The host of the mighty Asura Kings

Fierce in battle and strife, hard to subdue and tame

The Bodhisattva also manifests within that path

By skillful means he expounds the Dharma to deliver them

Having heard that Dharma, their doubts are ended

Each one gives rise to the Mind of Loving-Kindness and Goodness

He is able to give the Gate of the Most Supreme Wondrous Dharma

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The Bodhisattva roams in play through the heavenly realms

He enters the palace of the deva-prince Nitya-vibhāva

In accord and conformity, by skillful means he opens the Gate of Transformation

That heaven possesses none of the Things to be Given (objects of bestowal)

At that time the deva-prince gives rise to suffering and affliction

The Bodhisattva thereupon manifests Precious Wealth for him (riches, gold, and jewels)

Causing the deva-prince to be complete in the Mind of Giving

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The entire host of those given over to greed and desire

Are ever scorched and burned by the fire of affliction

When they come to behold the Wholesome Majesty of the Bodhisattva

They are at once able to turn their minds and contemplate the True Dharma

The World is overflowing with Greed, Hatred, and Delusion

Reverently they bow their heads in homage to the Great Holy Honored One

The three poisons of affliction are eliminated

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

The realms of sentient beings are without shore or limit

Insects, ants, and frogs are without end in number

The Bodhisattva also, with the Mind of Loving-Kindness and Compassion

Everywhere brings to them the skillful means of Transformation and Deliverance

At the time when the World is stricken by hunger and thirst

He at once transforms forth food to rescue the multitude of beings

Or else he halts that mind of hunger and thirst

Therefore I take refuge in the Lotus-Bearer

If he sees sentient beings upon the great ocean

Whose boats and rafts are wrecked and about to sink and drown

The Compassionate Bodhisattva manifests the body of a horse

Causing them to grasp and cling to him so as to cross over

When sentient beings sail their ships out upon the great ocean

The Bodhisattva at will commands the winds to blow

Whether favorable or contrary, he rescues sentient beings

Causing them all swiftly to depart from fear and dread

The Bodhisattva has departed from the three realms (the Triple World)

Perfectly fulfilling the Dharma-Gate of Samādhi

And is further able to gather in and transform all sentient beings

As numerous as Empty Space, without shore or limit

The Bodhisattva has departed from every dread:

That is, the Rākṣasa with the Bhūta

The Piśāca with the Ḍākinī

Heretics and demons, the entire host of evil ghosts

Great floods, great fires, and robbers and thieves

Tigers, wolves, baleful vermin, and the weapons of war

Disease, poison, and Evil Spells

And even punishments and every kind of bondage and chains

The Bodhisattva himself has swiftly departed from them all

And then, for the sake of all sentient beings

He acts as the Great Teacher, benefiting Self and Others

In Great Compassion, Most Victorious, free from fear and dread

The Bodhisattva is complete in every Pure Conduct (Brahma-caryā)

Like the sun and moon shining upon the World

Humans and devas praise and extol the Great Holy Honored One

This is the True and Most Supreme Pure Conduct

The Bodhisattva ever abides in Samādhi

With boundless Merit and Virtue as his support

In accord with skillful means he makes his abode

Dwelling upon Mount Potala

That mountain is high and vast, most excellent and wondrous

Adorned with every kind of precious treasure

There are also jewel-trees beyond all number

Of the kinds Tilaka and Campā

Rare and wondrous birds of every sort perch upon them

Ever giving forth a wondrous, pure sound

Thus adorned is the place where the Holy One resides

To reverence and gaze upon it is to gain merit

Kubera and Varuṇa

Together with Yama, these three devas

The Gandharva King (Gandharva-rāja), the Asura King (Asura-rāja)

The Yakṣa King (Yakṣa-rāja) with the various Nāga Kings (Nāga-rāja)

And even the Bhūtas together with every kind of being

Whether Devas or Devatās, all the kings (Nara-rāja)

Day and night all give rise to the Mind of reverence

Taking refuge and praising the True Holy One

When the praising of that host is thus complete

All that is Desired (the things one wishes for) accords with their hearts

Increasing their Great Merit, their store of bliss, and their lifespan

Brave and vigorous in effort, complete in awesome virtue

Putting to rest and removing immeasurable sufferings and afflictions

Even in dreams there arises no fear or dread

And even when lifespan reaches its end at the hour of death

The Bodhisattva manifests his body and comes to console them

The ocean of merit and virtue of Avalokiteśvara

Is immeasurable, boundless, and inexhaustible

Were one to use a hundred tongues throughout a thousand kalpas

To extol and praise it, one could never exhaust it

THE PRAISE OF THE MERIT AND VIRTUE OF THE NOBLE AVALOKITEŚVARA BODHISATTVA (The End)