Toh 13The Verses that Summarize the Perfection of Wisdom
Pāli / Sanskrit:Prajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagāthā
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
THE SUTRA OF VERSES THAT SUMMARIZE PRAJNAPARAMITA
Prajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagāthā
Context
Prajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagāthā, provisionally translated as “The Sutra of Verses that Summarize Prajnaparamita,” belongs to the Prajnaparamita collection of the Northern Mahāyāna Buddhist Canon. This sutra is a brief and compact verse text, regarded as a summary of the essence of the entire thought of Prajnaparamita (the perfection of transcendent wisdom), one of the pillars of Mahāyāna Buddhist thought.
Prajnaparamita, or “the perfection of transcendent wisdom,” is not ordinary wisdom. It is supreme wisdom, cutting directly through all phenomena and seeing through the lack of intrinsic nature (śūnyatā) of all things. The Prajnaparamita sutras were taught by the Buddha Śākyamuni in order to instruct bodhisattvas in the path of practice by which this highest wisdom is realized. The verses in this sutra were composed in order to record the teaching and make it easy to remember and easy to transmit to future generations.
Main Content
The verse collection “Summary of Prajnaparamita” uses the form of concise verses to refine the essence of Prajñāpāramitā. These verses emphasize that the six bodhisattva states of mind (the six perfections, or six pāramitās) all arise from the wisdom of Prajnaparamita, and that the virtuous deeds of a bodhisattva consist in practicing these six perfections: generosity (Dāna), pure discipline (Śīla), patience (Kṣānti), diligence (Vīrya), meditative concentration (Dhyāna), and finally wisdom (Prajñā).
These verses point out that the bodhisattva’s path of practice is not a path of mere expediency or remoteness. It consists of actions in daily life, but performed with a mind not bound by attachment and not constrained by concepts. When practicing generosity, the practitioner need not attach importance to the recipient or to the gift; when maintaining discipline, the practitioner should not cling excessively to the outward form of the precepts. Every action is harmonized by the wisdom of Prajnaparamita, the wisdom that clearly understands the nature of non-self-existence.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.