佛說五十頌聖般若波羅蜜經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was dwelling on Vulture Peak Mountain, in the city of Rājagṛha, together with one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus, all of whom had attained Arhatship. Their outflows were exhausted, they were free from afflictions, their minds were wholly liberated, and their wisdom penetrated all things. Like the great Dragon Kings, they had severed the fetters, cast off the heavy burdens, accomplished all that was to be done, attained benefit for themselves, and gained mastery of mind.

At that time the Buddha addressed the venerable Subhūti:

"If there be good men and good women, and Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, who delight in cultivating and studying Unsurpassed Bodhi, should you, with respect to this Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā, listen to it, receive and uphold it, read and recite it, and analyze and expound it, then you will swiftly attain Right Enlightenment.

"Subhūti! This Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā is fully endowed with skillful means and penetrates all things; it is the profound Dharma-treasury of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Thus must one study, thus must one practice.

"Subhūti! If there be a great Bodhisattva who, with sympathetic joy, listens to, receives and upholds, reads and recites this Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā, he should study in this way and practice in this way. Why is this? Because this Sūtra expounds at length the entire treasury of the profound, Unsurpassed Bodhi Dharma of all Buddhas.

"Subhūti! This Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā gathers, embraces, and holds as equal and as one all the Bodhi-portion dharmas of the Dharma of the Śrāvakas, the Dharma of the Pratyekabuddhas, and the Dharma of the Bodhisattvas, together with all the Prajñāpāramitā dharmas of all Buddhas."

At that time, Subhūti addressed the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! Why is it that all the Bodhi-portion dharmas of the Dharma of the Śrāvakas, the Dharma of the Pratyekabuddhas, and the Dharma of the Bodhisattvas, together with all the Prajñāpāramitā dharmas of all Buddhas, are accumulated, embraced, and held as equal and as one?"

The Buddha taught Subhūti:

"All of the perfection of giving, the perfection of upholding precepts, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigor, the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of wisdom; inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner-and-outer emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of the supreme meaning, emptiness of the conditioned, emptiness of the unconditioned, emptiness of the unchanging, emptiness of no-mark, emptiness of self-mark, emptiness of the limited, emptiness of the limitless, emptiness of nature, emptiness of original nature, emptiness of no-nature, emptiness of self-nature, emptiness of no-nature and self-nature, the emptiness of all dharmas;

the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right exertions, the four bases of spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, the eightfold noble path, the four noble truths, the four formless attainments, the eight liberations, the nine successive dharmas, the gate of liberation of emptiness, the gate of liberation of no-mark, the gate of liberation of wishlessness, all the samādhi and dhāraṇī gates, the four kinds of knowledge, the five spiritual penetrations, all the ten powers of the Tathāgata, the four fearlessnesses, great loving-kindness, great compassion, the eighteen distinctive dharmas, the fruit of the Srotāpanna, the fruit of the Sakṛdāgāmin, the fruit of the Anāgāmin, the fruit of the Arhat, the fruit of the Pratyekabuddha,

the fruit of the Bodhisattva, and the knowledge of all paths.

In this way all wholesome dharmas and all the Prajñāpāramitā are accumulated, embraced, and held as equal and as one, without difference."

Having heard the Buddha speak thus, Subhūti said:

"World-Honored One! This scripture accumulates and preserves all wholesome dharmas, holding all the Prajñāpāramitā as equal and as one; it is profound and subtly wondrous, its meaning deep, difficult to understand and difficult to know."

The Buddha taught Subhūti:

"So it is, so it is! It is just as you have said. Subhūti! If there be a person who has not planted wholesome roots, who has evil companions, dull faculties, who is slothful, without wisdom, foolish and deluded, of little understanding and little learning, newly studying and shallow in comprehension, who moreover delights in the Lesser Vehicle and whose wisdom is narrow and confined—then with respect to this Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā he will find it hard to understand, hard to enter into, and furthermore will not believe and accept it. You should know this.

"Furthermore, Subhūti! If there be good men and good women who, with respect to this Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā, with sympathetic joy receive it, read and recite it, and explain and proclaim it as though guarding the Buddhas of the past, future, and present, then before long they will swiftly realize Unsurpassed Bodhi."

When the Buddha had finished expounding this Sūtra, the venerable Subhūti and the Bodhisattvas, the devas, humans, asuras, and the rest, having heard the Buddha speak thus, all rejoiced greatly, and with faith received it and reverently put it into practice.