Heart Sutra
: In English :
The Victorious Conqueror's Perfection of Wisdom Gone Yonder
In Sanskrit:
Bhagawati Prajnaparamita Hridaya.
In Tibetan :
Chomdendema Sherab kyi Pharol tu Chinpe Hnyingpo.
From the first sloka:
At one time I heard this speech: The Victorious Conqueror [Buddha]
was at the King's castle on Vulture Hill in India, together with a
great congregation of monks and a great congregation of
bodhisattvas.
And at that time the great boddhisattva, exhalted Chenrezig the
mighty, himself completely accomplished in the deep wisdom gone to
the other side (prajnaparamita), saw the five earthly heaps, and
saw that they were, by their very nature, completly empty.
Thereupon, by the power of Buddha, honorable Sariputra spoke thus
to the great boddhisatva, the exalted Chenrezig the mighty:
"Noble son, how should a person be taught who will succeed in
accomplishing the deep knowledge gone to the other shore?"
That having been said, Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara said to
Sharadwatibu:
"Sharibu, noble men and noble women, a person who desires to
succeed in the accomplishment of the deep wisdom gone to the other
side (Prajnaparamita) shall see in exactly this way; for he will
have seen that those five heaps are, in reality, by their very
nature completely empty.
"Form is empty. Emptiness [sunyata] is form. The action [karma] of
form is not other than emptiness, nor is the action of emptiness
other than form. Of this nature are also feeling, cognition,
conception, and consciousness.
"Sharibu, in this way all dharmas are empty; without essential
characteristic, not born, not ceasing, without defilement or
expiation of defilement, undiminished, uncompleted.
"Sharibu, in this way, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling,
no cognition, no conception, no consciousness.
"There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no
shape, no sound, no color, no flavor, no feeling, nor any property.
There is no dhatu of eye...no dhatu of mind; nor is there
mind-vijnana dhatu.
"No ignorance; from no cessation of ignorance to no old age and
death; including no cessation of old age and death.
"Of that nature are also suffering, misery and sin, and cessation.
There is no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no
non-attainment.
"Sharibu, in this way all buddhas, because of their non-attainment,
abiding firmly by Prajnaparamita, are without mental obscurations
ard are unafraid; they are truly passed beyond confusion, and are
finally passed beyond suffering.
"All buddhas residing in the past, present, and future, through
firmness in Prajnaparamita, have become buddhas of supreme and
complete enlightenment.
"Thus the Prajnaparamita mantra, the mantra of great
knowledge, the unexceeded mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra
that truly assuages all suffering, true and wise.
"The Prajnaparamita mantra spoken:
"Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha.
"Sharibu, this is how boddhisattvas teach
Prajnaparamita."
Thereupon, the Victorious Conqueror arose from deep meditation and
blessed Boddhisattva Avalokitshvara thus: Well done, well
done!
"Noble son, that is so; noble son, that is ever so.
"By thus adhering to Prajnaparamita you shall become accomplished.
You will look at everything this way, and therefore rejoice."
The Buddha having thus spoken, Saradwatibu and Boddhisattva
Avalokitshvara and the sangha and the gods and men and asuras and
devas were joyful, and praised the Buddha's speech.
: The end.
