From the Noble Vajra Banner of Victory Sutra

That suffering,
that mass of suffering,
the suffering of all sentient beings
and their various obstructions
and hindering actions
because of which they do not see the Buddhas
nor do they hear the Dharma
nor know the Sangha,
do I now take upon this
my own body –
a bundle of pain
accumulated through three defiled actions.

The suffering of those beings
who are born in hell,
who dwell in realms of cruel migrations –
may death take them beyond such migrations –
That awesome mass of suffering do I assume,
to that end I strive,
in that end I take joy,
from that end I shall not turn away
nor shall I run away
nor towards that end shall I be dismayed
or afraid
or draw back
or be apathetic

If you question, why?
It is because I bear the burden of all that lives.

This is not out of desire for my own pleasure,
but that I have vowed to free all sentient beings
and thus to fully unfold them.
I shall free all wandering beings:
free them from the desolation of being born,
from the desolation of old age,

and of disease;
free them from the desolation of the rounds of birth and death,
from the desolation of all bad migrations
and of never-ending unrest;
free them from the desolation of all that is conditioned,
of all obscuring views;
from the desolation of the depletion of virtuous actions,
and of unknowing arising from the depths.

From all shall I liberate all:
all those creatures entangled in the nets of their own desires,
shrouded in veils of ignorance,
clinging to their worlds of conditioned-being,
in their final moments afraid;
all those creatures plunged into the depths of pain,
subsisting in prisons of repeating patterns of existence,
without wisdom,
without honor in their words,
in doubt,
irresolute,
knowing only sadness;
unknowing of dependent-arising,
alone,
swept-round in whirlpools of afflicted minds and subjugated lives,
all these creatures shall I establish
in the kingdom of sovereign wisdom.

My struggle is not for liberation for myself alone,
but by the mind of very omniscience
shall I unbind all others
from the wheel of existence,
The ever-turning wheel
from which it is so hard to be freed.
I shall deliver them out of the awful abyss,
save them from all harm,
rescue them from the torrent
of their own swirling minds;
Upon myself do I rest the load of sorrow
of all of them.

It is my pleasure
to suffer the pain
of each and every tortured existence
In all ,
however many realms of existence,
I shall not defraud all the world
of my roots of virtue.
I shall strive to abide
in even a singe bad migration,
I shall,
without exception,
abide in all bad migrations
in all the realms of existence
for the sake of liberating living beings.

If you question why –
is it not reasonable for but one being to suffer
rather than all beings
fall to realms of ruin?

I, myself,
here let my blood
that I might redeem
all wandering beings
from the wilderness of the Lord of Death’s domain,
from places of birth as animal,
and as hell-being.
With this very body
shall I endure all suffering aggregates of feeling
for the sake of all sentient beings.
I take joy in reaffirming
the trustworthy truth of my proclamation:
‘I am the yoke-bearing nape
of all sentient beings
for the sake of all sentient beings.’
I shall not forsake even one sentient being.

If you question why –
with all that lives as my object

I shall engender
the very mind of Omniscience itself.
that is,
not for my own pleasure,
but that I may altogether liberate all living beings
have I wholly set forth
towards unsurpassed, perfect,
complete enlightenment.

Thus, whenever and for however long
all beings are attaining great happiness,
from happiness never before known
up to the ecstasies of very Omniscience,
shall I wholly dedicate my roots of virtue:
dedicate them that I may be
a leader drawing others along,
a bearer of a lamp,
a guide for those on their journey to peace,
provisioner for those
on their journey towards leisure;
dedicate them that I may be skilled in methods
and wise in meanings;
that I may abide on the furthermost shore
having navigated the seas of cyclic existence
in the wisdom-ship of All-knowing;
that I may be a master of pure dedication,
and a teacher pointing the way
to transcendence.

I shall in every way
cultivate the roots of virtue
for the sake of every living thing.
I shall totally dedicate these roots of virtue:
dedicate them that I may
liberate all sentient beings,
that I may be known to all,
and free all sentient beings;
that I may care for them,
spiritually mature them,

fulfill the needs,
and dispel the doubts of all sentient beings.

I am like the sun;
I depend upon no other.
I shall not surrender
the Bodhisattva’s armor to another;
indeed, I shall eliminate the very need for others.

I shall not pause from effort
to protect but even one being
and as one, all,
all living beings.
I shall not cease from utter devotion
to assuage all suffering;
I shall not settle for trifling roots of virtue;
I shall know no peace
with less
than all-consuming dedication.