In Sanskrit: Bhagavati prajnaparamitahrdaya
In Tibetan: Bcom Idan 'das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'I snying po
In English: The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Bhagavati
Thus have I once heard:
The Blessed One was staying in Rajagrha at Vulture Peak along with a
great community of monks and great community of bodhisattvas, and at
that time, the Blessed One fully entered the meditative concentration on
the varieties of phenomena called the Appearance of the Profound. At that
very time as well, holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being,
beheld the practice itself of the profound perfection of wisdom, and he
even saw the five aggregates as empty of inherent nature. Thereupon,
through the Buddha's inspiration, the venerable Sariputra spoke to holy
Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being, and said, "Any noble son
who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom
should train in what way?"
When this had been said, holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great
being, spoke to venerable Sariputra and said, "Sariputra, any noble sons
or daughters who wish to practice the perfection of wisdom should see this
way: they should see insightfully, correctly, and repeatedly that even the
five aggregates are empty of inherent nature. Form is empty, emptiness is
form, Emptiness is not other than form, form is also not other than
emptiness. Likewise, sensation, discrimination, conditioning, and
awareness are empty. In this way, Sariputra, all things are emptiness; they
are without defining characteristics; they are not born, they do not cease,
they are not defiled, they are not undefiled. They have no increase, they
have no decrease.
"Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no
discrimination, no conditioning, and no awareness. There is no eye, no ear,
no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. There is no form, no sound, no
smell, no taste, no texture, no phenomenon. There is no eye-element and
so on up to no mind-element and also up to no element of mental
awareness. There is no ignorance and no elimination of ignorance and so
on up to no aging and death and no elimination of aging and death.
Likewise, there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; there is no
wisdom, no attainment, and even no non-attainment.
"Therefore, Sariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no obtainments, they
abide relying on the perfection of wisdom. Having no defilements in their
minds, they have no fear, and passing completely beyond error, they reach
nirvana. Likewise, all the Buddhas abiding in the three times clearly and
completely awaken to unexcelled, authentic, and complete awakening in
dependence upon the perfection of wisdom.
"Therefore, one should know that the mantra of the perfection of wisdom -
the mantra of great knowledge, the precious mantra, the unexcelled
mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled, the mantra that quells all
suffering - is true because it is not deceptive. The mantra of the perfection
of wisdom is proclaimed:
tadyatha - gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha!
Sariputra, a bodhisattva, a great being, should train in the profound
perfection of wisdom in that way."
Thereupon, the Blessed One arose for that meditative concentration, and
he commended holy Avalokitsevara, the bodhisattva, the great being.
"Excellent!" he said. "Excellent! Excellent! Noble child, it is just so. Noble
child, it is just so. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom in
the manner that you have revealed - the Tathagatas rejoice!" This is what
the Blessed One said.
Thereupon, the venerable Sariputra, the holy Avalokitsevara, the
bodhisattva, the great being, and that entire assembly along with the world
of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, all rejoiced and highly praised
what the Blessed One had said.
