A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t5.27

v2.c19.s6.t5.27

For instance, the Prajñā-Pāramitā-Sūtras in their shortest form were used as Dhāraṇīs: thus the Alpākṣarā Prajñā-Pāramitā, etc.³ Special mention should here be made of the Prajñā-Pāramitā-hṛdaya-Sūtras, the shorter text of which we have in the ancient palm leaves, which have been kept since the year 609 A. D. in the monastery of Hôriuzi in Japan. These Sūtras teach the “heart” (hṛdaya) of the Prajñā-Pāramitā, *i.e.*, the “Mantra which alleviates all pain,” which contains the perfection of wisdom, and says: “O Enlightenment, which hast gone, gone, gone to the other shore, completely gone to the other shore,⁴ hail!” Even though this saying is, to a certain extent, supposed to present the essence of the negativist doctrine of the Prajñā-Pāramitā-Sūtras, its spiritual level is no higher than that of the Uṣṇīṣa-Vijaya-Dhāraṇī, which has also come down on the palm leaves of Hôriuzi, and only consists of a series of senseless invocations.¹ Many Prajñā-Pāramitā texts appear amongst the Dhāraṇīs in the Tibetan Kanjur.² There are also Dhāraṇīs in the Kanjur, whose function is to help people to understand the Śatasāhasrī Prajñā-Pāramitā and other long Prajñā-Pāramitās.³