Introduction

i.1The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] opens with the Blessed One residing at Avalokiteśvara’s palace, teaching the Dharma to a vast retinue. After the teaching, Brahmā and others extensively praise the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, enumerating his “names” in the form of descriptive qualities, including qualities specific to Avalokiteśvara, along with a number of qualities corresponding with more general lists of the major and minor marks of an awakened being. The text concludes by describing the benefits that result from praising Avalokiteśvara with these names, including protection from illness, rebirth in Sukhāvatī, and obtaining positive qualities, such as intelligence, heroism, fortune, and skill in the sciences.

i.1《觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]以世尊住在觀世音菩薩的宮殿中，向廣大的眷屬宣說法開始。教法結束後，梵天等人廣泛讚歎菩薩觀世音，並列舉他的「名號」，以描述性的特質呈現，包括觀世音菩薩特有的特質，以及與覺悟者的主要和次要相好的更普遍清單相對應的許多特質。經文最後描述了用這些名號讚歎觀世音菩薩所帶來的利益，包括保護免受疾病、往生極樂世界，以及獲得智慧、英勇、福報和學問精通等積極的特質。

i.2The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] is one of several canonical texts that focus on Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It belongs to a genre of “Hundred and Eight Names” texts that extoll deities by listing their “names,” which are often more like descriptive epithets. Sixteen such “Hundred and Eight Names” works are included in the Kangyur and the present text is one of three such texts dedicated to Avalokiteśvara. One of these three, The Dhāraṇī-Mantra of the One Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara (Toh 634/874), is a completely different text from the present one. However, the other, also titled The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [1] (Toh 705/900), is essentially a different recension of the present text.

i.2《尊貴的觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]是多部專門討論觀世音菩薩的正典文獻之一，觀世音菩薩是慈悲的菩薩。它屬於「一百零八名」文獻的類別，這類文獻透過列舉諸神的「名號」來稱頌他們，這些「名號」通常更像是描述性的敬稱。甘珠爾中收錄了十六部這樣的「一百零八名」著作，而現在這部經文是其中三部專門講述觀世音菩薩的經文之一。其中的一部《觀世音菩薩一百零八名陀羅尼真言》(編號634/874)與現在這部經文完全不同。然而，另一部也名為《尊貴的觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[1](編號705/900)，實質上是現在這部經文的不同版本。

i.3Toh 705/900 and Toh 706 are similar enough to be considered different versions of the “same” text. However, the differences between them are significant enough that the editors of the Degé Kangyur elected to include both works, side-by-side. We have likewise elected to translate them separately. These two works share a large percentage of their content, especially in the introductory and concluding narrative sections. The structure of the praise by way of the hundred and eight names, however, is distinct in the two works. In Toh 705/900, the praise has been rendered into Tibetan in verse, while here in Toh 706 the praise is rendered in prose. There are also additional differences in some of the content in the praise section, suggesting that the two versions likely represent translations of different Sanskrit recensions of the work. The close relationship between Toh 705 and Toh 706 is further highlighted by the fact that the final colophons at the end of both versions append the additional title “The Receptacle of the Precious Relics of all Victors,” the only difference being that the attribute “precious” is missing here in Toh 706.

i.3《貴尊觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]（德格版705/900和706）足夠相似，可以被視為同一文本的不同版本。然而，它們之間的差異足夠顯著，以至於德格甘珠爾的編輯們決定並排收錄這兩部著作。我們同樣選擇分別翻譯它們。這兩部著作在內容上有很大比例的相同之處，特別是在介紹和結論敘述部分。然而，通過一百零八個名號進行讚頌的結構在兩部著作中是不同的。在德格版705/900中，讚頌已被譯為藏文韻文，而在德格版706中，讚頌是以散文形式呈現的。在讚頌部分的一些內容中還存在其他差異，表明這兩個版本可能代表了該著作不同梵文本的譯本。德格版705和706之間的密切關係進一步體現在以下事實：兩個版本末尾的最後題記都附加了額外的標題「一切勝者寶舍利容器」，唯一的區別在於德格版706中缺少了「寶」這個詞。

i.4The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] does not appear to survive in Sanskrit. However, a text by the same name was translated into Chinese and is preserved in the Taishō canon as Taishō 1054, translated by Tian Xizai, who was active in the tenth century. Although the Tibetan translation of The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] (Toh 706) lacks a translators’ colophon (as does Toh 705/900), we can date it to the imperial period, since the title is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs. It is also one of the texts that appears most frequently at Dunhuang. According to Dalton and van Schaik, the Dunhuang recensions do not correspond with the present recension, but rather with Toh 705.

i.4《聖觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]似乎沒有梵文版本流傳至今。然而，同名的典籍被翻譯成中文，保存在《大正藏》中，編號為大正1054，譯者為天息災，他在十世紀時期活動。雖然《聖觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]的藏譯版本（德格目錄706）缺少譯者題記（德格目錄705/900也是如此），但我們可以將其年代定於帝王時期，因為該標題同時出現在《德格目錄》和《芳唐瑪目錄》的帝王目錄中。它也是在敦煌出現最頻繁的典籍之一。根據達爾頓和范沙克的研究，敦煌的版本與現存版本並不對應，而是與德格目錄705相符。

i.5Like many dhāraṇī texts, The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] is found in the Tantra section of both the Tshalpa and Thempangma lineage Kangyurs, as a Kriyā tantra. In the Degé Kangyur and other Tshalpa lineage Kangyurs that have a Dhāraṇī section, the other recension of this work, Toh 705/900, is additionally found there. However, Toh 706 is exclusively contained in the Tantra section.

i.5如同許多陀羅尼文獻一樣，《尊貴觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2] 在聲聞部和廷邦瑪傳承的甘珠爾中均被收錄在密續部分，作為事部密續。在德格甘珠爾和其他有陀羅尼部分的聲聞部傳承甘珠爾中，該著作的另一版本托號705/900 也被額外收錄在陀羅尼部分。然而，托號706 則完全只收錄在密續部分。

i.6This English translation of The Noble Hundred and Eight Names of Avalokiteśvara [2] is based on the Degé Kangyur recension of the text, Toh 706. We also consulted the notes to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur and the Stok Palace Kangyur recension of the text in preparing this translation, as well as Toh 705/900, the largely parallel text discussed above.

i.6本篇對《觀世音菩薩一百零八名經》[2]的英文翻譯是以德格版《甘珠爾》的版本為基礎，即Toh 706。在準備這個翻譯時，我們還查閱了《甘珠爾》對勘版（dpe bsdur ma）的註釋，以及斯托克宮版《甘珠爾》中該經文的版本，並參考了上述討論的基本平行文本Toh 705/900。