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prajñāpāramita-hṛdayam sūtra Prajñā-Pāramitā-Heart Sutra Heart Sutra Sanskrit Heart Sutra
prajñāpāramita-hṛdayam sūtra
（心经）
The Heart Sūtra is part of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñaparamitā)
literature, a collection of early Mahāyāna Scriptures. There are a number of
Perfection of Wisdom collections, both long and short, and there are a number of
Heart Sūtras, both long and short.
The Perfection of Wisdom collection was originally written in Buddhist Sanskrit,
which is slightly different from classical Sanskrit, and in a number of
Sanskrit-related languages and dialects that existed on the Silk Road.
It is quite possible that the long version of the Heart Sūtra that has been translated and published by the office of the Gyalwa Karmapa (www.dharmafellowship.org/libary/texts/heart-sutra.htm) is a most accomplished and correct rendering of one of the long versions.
Sir Leon Hurvitz, one of the early highly esteemed Sinologists discovered a
short version of the Heart Sūtra that the monk-pilgrim Xuanzang (or Hsuan-tsang)
transcribed from a wall in a cave in Loyang, Northern China. What Xuanzang, who
died in 664 discovered must have been an transliterated version of a Sanskrit
original. Transliteration means that you write down the heard syllables as
faithfully as possible in the script in which your own language is expressed. To
give an example of transliteration: an Anglosaxon might transliterate the French
word "boutique" as "booteec", and "pois" as "pooah". Imagine the
misunderstandings that arose in later ages when researchers tried to figure out
the Sanskrit words hidden in Chinese characters.
Since Hurvitz' discovery the short version of the Heart Sūtra has been
retranslated into Buddhist Sanskrit first, and after that into English. Now a
version of this Sanskrit → Chinese → Sanskrit → English text floats around in
the virtual World Wide Web.
Translating such a text into English was a brave enterprise, especially in
the early days of Buddhism in the West. As both the knowledge of Buddhism grew
and more and more dictionaries and Sanskrit Grammars appeared, it has become
possible to attempt a revised English translation of Xuanzang's short version of
the Heart Sūtra.
On the title:
"Heart" here refers to the essence of the Perfection of Wisdom-texts, being
the emptiness of all phenomena. A few words are said in the observations in line
3. The stock phrase "emptiness is form, form is emptiness" is not found in this
text, at least not verbatim. Instead line 5, where this phrase appears in other
manuscripts, shows influences of Huayen-thinking where it emphasises the
fundamental identity of forms in their being empty of "ens", substance.
1. Prajñaparamitā hrdaya sūtra
1. Sūtra on the heart of the perfection of wisdom
2. arayāvalokiteshvaro bodhisattvo
2. The noble bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Line 2.: — Arayāvalokiteshvaro. Āvalokiteshvara (he who reaches down (aval) to
listen to voice/sound (svāra) of the earth (loka)) is Buddha's Compassion
aspect; a bodhisattva is an enlightening being, according to the Mahāyāna
philosophy.
3. gambhīram prajñaparamitā caryam caramano vyavalokāyati
sma panca skandhas tams ca sva bhāva sunyam
3. coursed in the profound perfection of wisdom; he uninterruptedly coursed (in
such a way that he had a fixed view on) the empty world (,namely the emptiness
of) that which has arisen, (i.e.) the five skandhas.
Line 3.: — sma: uninterruptedly, fixed
— vyavalokāyati. Vyava in classical Sanskrit is a prefix indicating action: to
fix, to do etc. Lokāyati (gramm.: infin.) = the world. Vyava-lokāyati ought to
be read in conjunction with caryam and sunyam: to course/coursing (caryam) in
empty/the empty (sunyam) world (lokāyati) of ...
— caryam caramano indicates the dynamic though wordless Buddhist meditation.
— sva bhāva (svabhāva) = that which has arisen, that which has been born, the
existent. In classical Hindu-thought it is often given as "the self-existent".
This, however, would not be the correct interpretation here.
— Skandhas are enumerated in lines 5 and 6 as: materiality (form), physical
feeling, the active process of understanding (samñjā), establishing and
maintaining of thought-stream (samskāra), and consciousness as such (vijñāna).
— Sūnyam here is clearly understood in the Southern Buddhist sense of absence of
an unchanging, ever abiding self, soul. It indicates the ever changing nature of
all phenomena including the self or the soul. It should be understood that the
Perfection of Wisdom-collection is one of the first, if not the first long
manuscript that expouses the early Mahāyāna philosophy.
4. pasyati sma iha sariputra
4. O, Sariputra, he saw uninteruptedly:
Line 4.: — Sariputra, a contemporary of Sakyamuni Buddha, was one of the Arhats,
enlightened monks, having, according to Southern or early Buddhism, the same
enlightenment as Buddha, yet standing a step below him. Sariputra used to be the
trainer of novices. In later ages he therefore is projected as one of Buddha's
most important partners in discussion, and is here, in the heart Sūtra,
presented as one who understood this teaching, and therefore now has joined the
ranks of the bodhisattvas, enlightening beings.
5. rūpam sunyatā vā rūpam rūpan na prthak
sūnyatā sūnyatāya na prthak rūpam
yad rūpam sa sūnyatā ya sūnyatā sa rūpam
5. that which is emptied is none other than (a single) form and/or forms (plur.);
those forms do not distinguish (fundamentally) among themselves; they are empty.
Line 5.: — Following the rule that verb and object have to agree in number,
sūnyatāya, "is emptied", should be considered the verb, and sa, a "pleonasm"
here used in the sense of "this here" has been given the role of subject.
— There is an interplay of singular and plural in the use of rūpam (acc. sing.
3rd. masc.) and rūpan (acc. plur. 3rd. masc.).
— prthak, in the original given as prithak and prithag, has the meaning of
widely apart, separately, differently, singly, severally, one by one. In
conjunction with na, not, it has been rendered as "none other than", and "do not
distinguish".
6. evam eva vedanā samjñā samskāra vijñānam
6. The same goes for physical feeling, the active process of understanding,
establishing and maintaining of thought-stream , and consciousness as such.
7. iha sariputra sarva dharma sunyatā
7. O Sariputra, all phenomena are empty,
Line 7.: — sarva. Lokesh Chandra (the 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara) is of the
opinion that this should be read as sarpa: come.
8. lakshana anutpanna anuruddha av(i)māla anuna aparpūna.
8. (therefore their) characteristics (too) are unarisen, (therefore there is no need for) pacifying, (and they cannot be said to be) impure, (or) inferior; (in this sense they are) certainly complete, one.
Line 8.: — This line lacks object. The object has to be found in the word
"phenomena" in line 7. Lakshana therefore has been chosen as the adjective of
dharma, phenomena.
— Aparpūrna does not occur in either Classical Sanskrit or in Hybrid or Buddhist
Sanskrit. Hence "certainly complete, one" has been chosen as a composite of the
Hybr. Sanskr. apara, "a certain", and pūrna, "full, one". I.e. the absence of
ens, substance in both the phenomena and their characteristics IS the
characteristic of the phenomena and their characteristics as we perceive them
with our senses.
9a. ta (tada) sariputra sunyatāyam
9a. In that case, Sariputra, (in) that all encompassing emptiness
— a. sūnyatāyam has been rendered as if the adjective sunyatā were a pronoun with the additional 3rd (= we) form -tāyam.
b. na rūpam na vedanā na samjñā na samskāra na vijñāna
b. (is) no materiality; there is no physical feeling, no active process of understanding, no establishing and maintaining of thought-stream, no consciousness
c.na caksuh srotam na ghrāna jihva-kaya manah
c. (nothing belonging to the sphere of the) eye; it has no faculty of hearing, no smell, no tongue, nothing material.
— c. caksuh should be understood as an ablativus, just as manah.
d. na rūpa sabda gandha rasa spistavya (sprstavya) dharmah
d. (There is) no form, no sound, smell, taste, touching — nothing phenomenal.
— d. sprstavya. -tavya is a gerund.
e. na caksur dhātur yā van (yāva) na mano vijñānam dhātur
e. There is no sphere in which the eye is operative, upto thinking, or a sphere in which consciousness is operative.
— e. and g. yā van. In classical Sanskrit yā should be understood as moving, and van as acquiring. However, yāva in Pali should be understood as "upto" or "down to".
f. na vidya na vidya na vidya ksayo vā vidya ksayo
f. (There is) no knowing, no exhaustion of knowing or knowing that knowing has been exhausted.
g. yā van (yāva) jaramaranam na jaramana ksayo
g. This (holds true upto) old age and death and the extincion of old age and death.
— d. "... upto old age and death" refers to the 12-fold chain of dependent origination (pratitya samutpāda) that starts with ignorance and ends with old age and death, after which the cycle starts again.
h. na duhkha samudaya nirodha mārgajnā
h. There is no origin of affliction (or) extinction of the search.
— h. Affliction and origin of affliction: duhkha, resp. duhkha-samudaya.
Especially this line speaks of the meditatively experienced eternal moment of
now, the non-moving or timelessness. Again here Buddhist philosophy cannot be
divorced from Buddhist meditation and vice versa without seriously distorting
the one or the other.
i. na jñānam na prapti na (a)bhis(a)maya tamai (tasmat) na prapti.
i. (This all encompassing emptiness has) no supreme knowledge; there is nothing
to be gained, nothing to be clearly understood; therefore there is nothing to be
attained.
— i. "Nothing is clearly understood": na abhisamaya; the original has a slight
error. "Nothing to be attained" is a stock phrase of zen.
— In Hybrid or Buddhist Sanskrit mārgaņā is "act of searching, seeking". -jñā
here should be understood as a transliteratory error, although classical
Sanskrit has rasajñā, "having a taste for", and suyajñā, "sacrificing well". The
pronounciation of -ņā and -jñā is practically identical.
Tasmai in classical Sanskrit generally means "unto Him", and occasionally
"therefore". The latter interpretation is chosen since the first does not make
sense in this line.
— In line 9. philosophy and meditative practice merge. It is furthermore a
rephrasing of the abhidharmic teaching on the senses. It describes the senses,
e.g. the eye, as a/ the physical organ, b/ as a faculty, i.e. its functioning,
and c/ the field in which it is operative.
The earliest strand of Buddhism says of the senses and all that belongs to
materiality and mentality: "all this is not me, myself (na me so atta)". The
later strands say: they are empty (sunya), there is emptiness (sunyatā). The
Perfection of Wisdom-collection to which the Heart Sūtra belongs does not yet
say that emptiness of substance equals illusoriness, though this particular
Chinese manuscript leans very much towards it.
10. tvad bodhisattva prajñaparamitā asritya (srutya)
10. You, bodhisattva, heard (understood) the perfection of wisdom (thus:)
11. viha ratya (vihāratya) citta varano vidya ksayo na vidya ksayo
11. (it) is to be dwelt in (thus:), he chooses this (line of) thought: nor is
knowing exhausted, nor is it not exhausted.
Line 11.: — Vihāratya: is to be dwelt in.
— Varano from varana: choosing: he chooses / the chooser.
12. na duhkha-samudaya nirodha-mārgajnā
na jñānam na prapti na (a)bhis(a)maya tamai (tasmat) na prapti.
12. There is no origin of affliction, there is no extinction of the search.
(It has) no supreme knowledge; there is nothing to be gained, nothing to be
clearly understood; therefore there is nothing to be attained.
13. tvad bodhisattvanam prajñaparamitā asritya (srutya)
13. You who (now) belong to (the line of) bodhisattvas heard (understood) the perfection of wisdom (thus:)
14. vihāratya citta varano | citta varano
na siddhitvad (nāstitvat) atrasto viparyasa ti kranto (tikranto)
14. It is to be dwelt in (thus:); he chooses this line of thought | this way of
thinking:
Because of non-existence of the hindrances of the mind, he is not frightened, he
has crossed over distortions; |
Line 14.: — Part of line 14. plus the first 2 words of line 15, delineated by | |, occur in a different manuscript that bears both similarities and differences. It has been translated by a Pali class of Taiwan University as: citta-avarana-na-astitvat a-trastah viparyāsa-atikrantah nisthā-nirvāna-praptah. It is rendered as: "Because of non-existence of the hindrances of the mind, he is not frightened, he has crossed over distortions, at the end he will attain Nirvana."
Both a Sino-Korean recitation book on the 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara and the Lotus Sūtra have the compound viparyāsa-tikranta, not viparyāsātikranta. I.e. there is no negation here.
15. ni sthā (nisthā) nirvāna | tya dhā vyāva stitah.
15. indeed he will be firmly established in nirvāna.
Line 15.: — It may well be that the last part of this line: tya dhā vyāva
sthitah is a distortion that occurred as a result of initial rendering of
Sanskrit into Chinese and retranslation into Sanskrit. Should we try to
understand the line as it stands, then tya should be tyad, indeed; dhā should be
understood as "holding (in place)"; and vyāva should be understood as in line 3.
16. sarva buddhah prajñaparamitam asritya (srutya)
17. anuttaram samyaksambodhim abisambuddhah
16 - 17. All unexcelled, perfectly enlightened, highest Buddhas heard
(understood) the perfection of wisdom.
18. tasmat jñatavyam
18. Therefore they knew this.
19. prajñaparamitā-mahā-mantram mahā-vidya-mantram
anuttara-mantram asamasama-mantram.
19. The Perfection of Wisdom is a great utterance, an utterance of great
knowing,
an on all levels unexcelled utterance.
Line 19.b. : — asamasama. In Classical Sanskrit sama has a number of renderings,
among others "homogeneous". Hence asamasama is translated as "on all levels",
ignoring the possibility that the initial "a" could be a negative.
20. sarva duhkha prasa manam satyam amithyātvat
20. All afflictions are cast aside as the mind does away with falsety, unreality.
Line 20.: — prasa should be prāsa: casting, throwing. Amithyātvat ought to be understood in the line of the Cl. Sanskrit mithyātva: falsety, unreality.
21. prajñaparamitayam ukto mantrah tadhyathā
21. Thus has been declared the utterance on the perfection of wisdom.
Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate bodhi svaha
(Is) gone, (is) gone, gone to the other shore, altogether gone to the other
shore; a salute to bodhi, enlightenment.
Line 19 - 21.: — mantrah is rendered as "utterance" since a mantra is not in all
instances a spell or a short saying without meaning; in fact, it is never
without meaning.
— gate in the final line is the passive form as in "is done", "is seen", in this
case "is gone". The popular interpretation "let's go together" cannot hold. What
is given here is a salute to Avalokiteshvara, he has gone to the other shore
(enlightenment).
prajñāpāramita-hṛdayam sūtra vocabulary
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