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Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya Sūtra (Heart Sutra)

· 8 min read

The Heart Sūtra is a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya translates as “The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom”.

The following is my translation of the revised edition of the Sanskrit text from Jayarava Attwood’s “Revised Editions of the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya and Bānrěbōluómìduō xīn jīng «般若波羅蜜多心經»”, Asian Literature and Translation, Vol 11 No 1 (2024), pp. 1-29, ISSN 2051-5863, https://doi.org/10.18573/alt.63.

Āryāvalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva, while practising the profound course of the prajñāpāramitā (perfection of wisdom), looked down and saw the five skandhas (collections) and saw that they were empty of self-nature.

Here, Śāriputra, rūpa (form) is śūnyatā (emptiness, or without substance), śūnyatā is rūpa. śūnyatā is none other than rūpa, rūpa is none other than śūnyatā. The same is true for vedanā (feeling), saṃjñā (apperception), saṃskāra (mental constructions), and vijñāna (consciousness).

Here, Śāriputra, all dharmas (phenomena) are characterised by śūnyatā; they are not produced, not stopped, not defiled, not pure, not deficient, and not complete.

Therefore, Śāriputra, in śūnyatā there is no rūpa, no vedanā, no saṃjñā, no saṃskārā, no vijñāna; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; no eye-component and so on up to no mind-consciousness-component; no avidyā (ignorance) and no extinction of avidyā (ignorance), and so on up to no ageing and death and no extinction of ageing and death; no duḥkha, samudaya, nirodha, mārga (suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path); no jñāna (knowledge), no prāpti (attainment).

Therefore, Śāriputra, because there is no attainment, a bodhisattva, relying on prajñāpāramitā, dwells without mental obscurations. Because there are no mental obscurations, he is without fear. Having passed beyond all delusion, he attains final nirvāṇa (extinguishment). All Buddhas abiding in the three times (past, present and future), relying on prajñāpāramitā, are fully awakened to anuttarā samyaksambodhi (unexcelled, perfect awakening).

Therefore, one should know that prajñāpāramitā is the great mantra (incantation), the great mantra of knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequalled mantra, the allayer of all duḥkha (suffering); it is true because it is not false.

The mantra proclaimed in the prajñāpāramitā is this:

gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā.
(gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, wisdom, svāhā!)

Thus concludes prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya (The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom).

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