Prajñāpāramitāhṛ dayasūtra

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In English, the “Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra” (or, in other interpretations, the ”DHĀRAṆĪ-Sūtra of the Perfection of Wisdom”); a work known in English simply as the “Heart Sūtra”; one of only a handful of Buddhist SŪTRAs (including the “Lotus Sūtra”and the “Diamond Sūtra”) to be widely known by an English title. The “Heart Sūtra” is perhaps the most famous, and certainly the most widely recited, of all Buddhist sūtras across all Mahāyāna traditions. It is also one of the most commented upon, eliciting more Indian commentaries than any Mahāyānasutra, including works by such luminaries as KAMALAŚĪLA, VIMALAMITRA, and ATIŚA DĪPAṂKARAŚRĪJÑĀNA, as well as such important East Asian figures as FAZANG, KŪKAI, and HAKUIN EKAKU.

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As its title suggests, the scripture purports to be the quintessence or heart (hṛday a) of the “perfection of wisdom” (PRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ), in its denotations as both supreme wisdom and the eponymous genre of scriptures.

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The sūtra exists in long and short versions—with the longer version better known in India and the short version better known in East Asia—but even the long version is remarkably brief, requiring only a single page in translation. The short version, which is probably the earlier of the two recensions, is best known through its Chinese translation by XUANZANG made c. 649 CE.

There has been speculation that the Chinese version may be a redaction of sections of the Chinese recension of the MAHĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀSŪTRA (also translated by Xuanzang) as a mnemonic encoding (dhāraṇī) of the massive perfection of wisdom literature, which was then subsequently translated back into Sanskrit, perhaps by Xuanzang himself. Although there is as yet no scholarly consensus on the provenance of the text, if this argument is correct, this would make the “Heart Sūtra” by far the most influential of all indigenous Chinese scriptures.

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The long version of the text, set on Vulture Peak (GṚDHRAKŪṬAPARVATA) outside RĀJAGṚHA, begins with the Buddha entering SAMĀDHI. At that point, the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEŚVARA (who rarely appears as an interlocutor in the prajñāpāramitā sūtras) contemplates the perfection of wisdom and sees that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) are empty of intrinsic nature (SVABHĀVA). The monk ŚĀRIPUTRA, considered the wisest of the Buddha’s ŚRĀVAKA disciples, is inspired by the Buddha to ask Avalokiteśvara how one should train in the perfection of wisdom. Avalokiteśvara’s answer constitutes the remainder of the sūtra (apart from a brief epilogue in the longer version of the text).

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That answer, which consists essentially of a litany of negations of the major categories of Buddhist thought—including such seminal lists as the five aggregates (skandha), twelve sense-fields (ĀYATANA), twelve links of dependent origination (PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA), and FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS— contains two celebrated statements.

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The first, made in reference to the first of the five aggregates, is “form (RŪPA) is emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ); emptiness is form” (RŪPAṂ ŚŪNYATĀ ŚUNYATAIVA RŪPAM). This is one of the most widely quoted and commented upon statements in the entire corpus of Mahāyānasūtras and thus is not easily amenable to succinct explication. In brief, however, the line suggests that emptiness, as the nature of ultimate reality, is not located in some rarified realm, but rather is found in the ordinary objects of every day experience.

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The other celebrated statement is the spell (MANTRA) that concludes Avalokiteśvara’s discourse— GATE GATE PĀRAGATE PĀRASAṂGATE BODHI SVĀHĀ —which, unlike many mantras, is amenable to translation: “gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, enlightenment, svāha.” This mantra has also been widely commented upon. The presence of the mantra in the sūtra has led to its classification as a TANTRA rather than a sūtra in some Tibetan catalogues; it also forms the basis of Indian tantric SĀDHANAs.

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The brevity of the text has given it a talismanic quality, being recited on all manner of occasions (it is commonly used as an exorcistic text in Tibet) and inscribed on all manner of objects, including fans, teacups, and neckties in modern Japan.