Kūkai's Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra

3 October 2026

We now begin to examine the deities, mantras, mudrās, and rites that the martial-Shugendō register puts to work — a body of expedient means (方便, hōben; Skt. upāya). But what end should those means serve?

Skillful means exist to hasten one thing: the ripening of insight (般若, hannya; prajñā) and compassion (慈悲, jihi; karuṇā) — and the insight in question is precisely the realization of emptiness (空, kū; śūnyatā) that the Heart Sūtra distills into a single page.

We open this portion of our analysis with Kūkai’s brief commentary on that sūtra. His commentary reads the canon’s most compressed statement of emptiness not as bare negation but as the seed of awakening, and does so in the very esoteric key — using deity, mantra, seed-syllable — that the chapters below will meet in a martial register.

The Heart Sūtra is quoted in the Tsuki no Shō’s Hōshin no koto (捧心之事; “offering up the mind” — the raised, dedicated mind), where Yagyū Mitsuyoshi grounds a gokui in the vow of Kannon at Hase-dera. The term itself is Munenori’s: in the Heihō Kadensho he reads the graphs literally, the enemy’s mind “offered up” in the hand that grips the sword, to be struck before it moves. That Yagyū-specific reading — how a swordsman’s teaching leans on the Heart Sūtra — is taken up in Volume II; here the sūtra is given its own classical commentary, so that when its emptiness-language later resurfaces in a sword text, it is already familiar.

The Hannya-shingyō hiken (般若心經祕鍵; “The Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra”) is Kūkai’s (空海, 774–835) short esoteric commentary on the Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya. It reads the sūtra not as an abbreviation of the larger Prajñā corpus but as the dhāraṇī-samādhi of the Great Prajñā Bodhisattva in her own right, dividing the text into five sections (五分), each assigned to a bodhisattva-vehicle and sealed with a verse (ju 頌).

It closes with a postscript (跋) dating its composition to the spring of Kōnin 9 (818), during a great epidemic. That postscript was already doubted in the Edo period: the Shingon scholar Unshō (運敞, 泊如) judged it a later fabrication. The Shugen koji benran quotes this verdict and endorses it.1

The base text is the Taishō recension from the SAT Daizōkyō Text Database, T57n2203 (空海撰); Taishō vol. 57 lies outside CBETA’s coverage and was retrieved separately. The translation is a working one, made for the purposes of this book; readers should consult the extensive scholarship on the sūtra for more detail.

Preface, in verse

“The Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra, with preface — composed by Henjō Kongō (Kūkai, ‘Vairocana-Vajra’).”2

Mañjuśrī’s keen sword cuts off all frivolous discourse; the Mother of Awakening, the Sanskrit text, is the Tamer-and-Guide. The mantra dhīḥ is its seed-syllable; the dhāraṇī holds and stores all the teachings. Boundless birth-and-death — how can it be cut? Only through dhyāna and right contemplation. The Venerable One’s samādhi, its benevolence unyielding — I now praise and expound it, and let fall my compassion.

The teaching is not far

“Now, the Buddha’s Dharma is not far off — it is near, within the mind. Suchness is not outside — casting the body aside, where would one seek it? Delusion and awakening lie in ourselves: raise the aspiration and one arrives at once; brightness and darkness are nothing other [than us], so with faith and practice one realizes it in a flash. Alas, alas, you long-sleeping children! Bitter and painful, you madly-drunk men! The madly-laughing do not know they are drunk; the dead-asleep mock the awakened. Never having sought the Medicine-King’s remedy, when will they see the light of Mahāvairocana (Dainichi)?”3

As for the lightness or heaviness of one’s cataract-obstructions, the slowness or speed of awakening — faculties differ, natures and desires vary. And so the two teachings [exoteric and esoteric] run in separate ruts, parting ways at the ground of gold and lotus [the two maṇḍalas]; the five vehicles run abreast, yet stumble their hooves on the mound of illusory shadows. According to the antidote one gets for one’s poison, the remedy differs. The compassionate father’s method for guiding his children — its great outline lies here.

The sūtra as the Bodhisattva’s mantra-samādhi

“The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra is precisely the Dharma-gate of the great-mind mantra-samādhi of the Great Prajñā Bodhisattva. Its text falls short of a single sheet; its lines are fourteen. It may be called simple yet essential, terse yet deep. The prajñā of the five treasuries cannot sate itself on one phrase of it; the practice-fruit of the seven schools finds no sufficiency in sipping a single line.”4

“Avalokiteśvara” (Kanjizai) raises up the practitioners of every vehicle; “crossing beyond all suffering to nirvāṇa” lifts the veil on the bliss won by every teaching. The “five aggregates” point horizontally to the realm of delusion; the “three Buddhas” show vertically the awakened mind. At the words “form and emptiness,” Samantabhadra (Fugen) relaxes his chin [in a smile] at the sense of perfect interfusion; at “non-arising,” Mañjuśrī (Monju) breaks into a smile at the contemplation that cuts off all frivolity. Set within the realm of consciousness, it “selects and holds” — a clap of the hands; dissolved into object-and-wisdom, it “returns to the one” — a mind delighted. The twelve links of dependent-origination point to arising-and-ceasing at the qilin’s-horn [the pratyekabuddha]; the four-truths Dharma-wheel startles with suffering-and-emptiness at the goat-cart [the śrāvaka].

How much more do the two syllables gate swallow the practice-fruit of all the treasuries, and the two words pāra[gate] conceive the teachings of both exoteric and esoteric Dharma. Each single sound-and-syllable is not exhausted by kalpas of discourse; each single name-and-reality is without limit to Buddhas [numberless] as dust-motes. Therefore to recite-and-hold, expound-and-offer it uproots suffering and bestows joy; to cultivate and contemplate it wins the Way and rouses the supernormal powers. The name “most profound” (甚深) is indeed fittingly given. In the course of teaching a child, I have gathered a few essentials and construed its five sections. Though the exegetes are many, none has yet fished out this hidden [meaning]. The sameness and difference of the translations, and the distinction of exoteric and esoteric, are as set out in the commentary below.

A first objection

“Someone asks: Prajñā is a second-order, not-yet-final teaching — how can it swallow the exoteric sūtras of the three [vehicles]? [Answer:] When the Tathāgata expounds the Dharma, a single syllable holds the sense of the five vehicles, a single thought expounds the Dharma of the three treasuries. How much more a whole text, a whole chapter — how could it lack anything, be without anything? The tortoise-shell’s trigram-lines and yarrow-stalks hold the myriad phenomena inexhaustibly; Indra’s Net and the treatise-on-sound swallow every meaning without end.”5

The objector says: If so, why did the Dharma-masters before you never utter these words? Answer: The sage administers medicine according to the depth or shallowness of the faculties; the worthy speaks or stays silent, awaiting the right time and the right person. I do not yet know whether this is a case of “what may be spoken, [and I] leave unspoken” or “what should not be spoken, [and I] speak.” Speaking the unspoken — is that a fault? The wise will decide, and that is all.

The title, in Sanskrit and Chinese

“‘Buddha-spoken Mahāprajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra’ — in this title-heading there are two distinctions, since Sanskrit and Chinese differ. As it stands, the title mixes Sanskrit and Chinese: the three graphs 説 (spoken), 心 (heart), 經 (sūtra) are Chinese names; the remaining nine are Sanskrit. Given fully in Sanskrit it is buddhabhāṣa-mahāprajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtram: the first pair names ‘the perfectly-awakened one’; the next pair, ‘opening the secret treasury and bestowing the sweet-dew (amṛta)’; the next establishes the sense of ‘great, many, superior’; the next is named for samādhi-and-wisdom; the next three are named as ‘that which has finished its work’; the next signifies ‘the central/pivotal’; the last, by ‘threading and binding together,’ yields the graph [sūtra, ‘thread’].”6

Taken by its total sense, each part carries person, dharma, and simile. Thus: “Mahāprajñāpāramitā Bodhisattva” is a name — the person. This bodhisattva possesses the dharma-maṇḍala mantra-samādhi gate, and each single syllable is dharma. And each of these names uses a shallow worldly word to signify the deep designation of dharma-nature — the simile. This samādhi-gate the Buddha expounded on Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) for Śāriputra and the rest.

The translations

“This sūtra has several translations. The first is that of Tripiṭaka-master Kumārajīva (羅什) — the text expounded here. Next, the Tang translation of Tripiṭaka-master Xuanzang (遍覺, ‘Universally-Awake’): its title lacks the four graphs 佛説摩訶 (‘Buddha-spoken Mahā’), adds 等 (‘and so on’) below ‘five aggregates,’ drops 一切 (‘all’) below ‘far removed,’ and has no efficacy-passage after the dhāraṇī. Next, the text of Tripiṭaka-master Yijing (義淨) of the Great Zhou: its title omits 摩訶 (‘Mahā’) and adds the efficacy-passage after the mantra. The two Tripiṭaka-masters Dharmacandra (法月) and Prajñā (般若) also translated it, both with introductory and dissemination sections. And the third scroll of the Dhāraṇī-samuccaya (陀羅尼集經) expounds this mantra-method, its sūtra-title agreeing with Kumārajīva’s.”7

As for “prajñā-heart”: this bodhisattva has dhāraṇīs of body, of mind, and the rest; the mantra of this sūtra is precisely the great-mind spell (大心呪), and it is from this heart-mantra that it takes the name “prajñā-heart.” Some say: because it briefly draws out the heart-essence of the great Prajñā sūtra, it is called “heart,” and it is not a separate assembly’s teaching — so it is said. It is, as it were, like a dragon that has a snake’s scales.

The five sections

The sūtra has, all told, five sections:8

  1. The general treatment of person and dharma (人法總通分) — from “Avalokiteśvara” to “crossing beyond all suffering and distress.”
  2. The distinguishing of the vehicles (分別諸乘分) — from “form is not different from emptiness” to “because there is nothing attained.”
  3. The practitioner’s attainment of benefit (行人得益分) — from “bodhisattva” to “anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
  4. The general return to the holding-of-illumination (總歸持明分) — from “therefore know that prajñā” to “truly not false.”
  5. The secret-treasury mantra (祕藏眞言分) — from “gate gate” to “svāhā.”

Section 1 · Person and dharma

“The first section has five aspects: cause, practice, realization, entering, holding. ‘Avalokiteśvara’ is the practitioner-person: this person’s original-awakening bodhi is the cause. ‘Profound prajñā’ is the dharma both observing and observed: that is practice. ‘Illumining emptiness’ is the wisdom that realizes; ‘crossing suffering’ is the fruit attained — the fruit is entering. In dependence on that teaching, persons and their wisdom are measureless; in dependence on wisdom, the divisions of time are also many — the three-births, three-kalpas, and the sixtyfold-and-hundredfold distinctions of deluded attachment: these are called ‘time.’ The verse:”9

The observing one cultivates wisdom, deeply illumining the five aggregates as empty; cultivating mindfulness through kalpas, he leaves affliction — the one-mind penetrates.

Section 2 · Distinguishing the vehicles

“The second section also has five: establishing, cutting-off, characteristics, the two, the one.”10

(i) Establishing — the samādhi-gate of Establishing-Tathāgata, from “form is not different from emptiness” to “and so likewise.” Establishing-Tathāgata is the secret name of Samantabhadra (Fugen), whose perfect cause takes the perfect interfusion of the three dharmas as its tenet — hence the name. He is also the body of the bodhicitta, practice, and vow of all Tathāgatas. The verse:

Form and emptiness are fundamentally not-two; phenomena and principle were one from the start. Unobstructed, interfusing the three kinds — gold and water are the simile for its tenet.

(ii) Cutting-off — the samādhi-gate of No-Frivolous-Discourse-Tathāgata, from “all dharmas are marked with emptiness” to “neither increasing nor decreasing.” He is the secret name of Mañjuśrī (Monju), whose keen sword wields the eight negations (八不), cutting off the mind of deluded clinging — hence the name. The verse:

The eight negations sever all frivolity; Mañjuśrī is that person. Sole emptiness, the ultimate principle — its meaning-and-use most hidden and true.

(iii) Characteristics — the samādhi-gate of Mahā-maitreya (摩訶栴多羅冐地薩怛嚩), from “therefore within emptiness there is no form” to “no realm of mind-consciousness.” His Great-Compassion samādhi takes bestowing joy as its tenet, showing cause-and-effect as admonition; discussing characteristic and nature apart, Consciousness-Only screens off the object — the mind lies only here. The verse:

When are the two selves cut off? Through three incalculable [kalpas] one realizes the dharma-body. The ādāna [store-consciousness] is the nature of consciousness; illusory shadows are what is named “guest.”

(iv) The two [vehicles] — “only aggregates, no self,” uprooting the seed of karmic cause: the samādhi-gate of the two vehicles. From “no ignorance” to “no ending of old-age-and-death” is the samādhi of the dependent-origination Buddha [pratyekabuddha]. The verse:

Wind-blown leaves know dependent-origination; through saṃsāra’s turning, how many years to awaken? Dew-flowers remove the seed — “goat” and “deer” [carts] are named in sequence.

And “no suffering, origination, cessation, path” — this one phrase of five graphs is the samādhi of attaining the Way through sound [śrāvaka]. The verse:

White bones — where am I? The blue-bruised corpse: the person was never there. My teacher is the four mindfulnesses; the arhat, too — what has he to fear?

(v) The one — the samādhi-gate of Ārya-Avalokiteśvara (阿哩也嚩路枳帝冐地薩怛嚩), from “no wisdom” to “because there is nothing attained.” This attains the Self-Nature-Pure Tathāgata, who with the one-path-pure wondrous lotus, undefiled, opens and reveals [the truth] to beings and uproots their suffering. Wisdom raised is what reaches; attainment named is what is realized. Since principle and wisdom are already dissolved, one forcibly gives them a single name. The Lotus, the Nirvāṇa, and the other “gathering-the-branches-back-to-the-root” teachings are contained wholly in these ten graphs. Let the wise discern the distinctions of the vehicles. The verse:

Observing the lotus, know self-purity; seeing the fruit, awaken to the mind’s virtue. The one path dissolves subject and object; the three carts return to silence.

Section 3 · The practitioner’s benefit

“The third section has two: person and dharma. The persons are seven — the former six and the latter one — since the sattva [beings] differ according to the vehicle. Again, the sattva are of four kinds: deluded, consciousness, vajra, wisdom. And the dharma is four: cause, practice, realization, entering. Prajñā is the able-cause and able-practice; the unobstructed, free of hindrance, is entering nirvāṇa; the awakened wisdom that realizes is realizing the fruit. As you ponder the text, you will know. The verse:”11

The practitioner-persons number seven; doubling the two, that is their dharma. Perfect quiescence together with bodhi — rightly relied on, what could be lacking?

Section 4 · The holding-of-illumination

“The fourth section again has three: name, essence, function. The four kinds of mantra-illumination raise the name; ‘truly not false’ points to the essence; ‘able to remove all suffering’ manifests the function. Among the names: the first is the great-spirit spell, the śrāvaka mantra; the second, the pratyekabuddha mantra; the third, the Mahāyāna mantra; the fourth, the secret-treasury mantra. Taken by the common sense, each single mantra possesses all four names. Showing but one corner [of the square], let the person of perfect wisdom take the three as returning to one. The verse:”12

The dhāraṇī has both text and meaning; the forbearance-spell fully holds the illumination. Sound-and-syllable together with person-and-dharma — true-reality possesses these names.

Section 5 · The secret-treasury mantra

“The fifth section has five: (1) gate manifests the śrāvaka practice-fruit; (2) [the second] gate raises the pratyekabuddha practice-fruit; (3) pāragate points to the most-victorious practice-fruit of all the Mahāyāna; (4) pārasaṃgate clarifies the fully-endowed, perfect-circle practice-fruit of the mantra-maṇḍala; (5) bodhi svāhā expounds the sense of the ultimate bodhi — the realization-and-entering — of all the vehicles above. Such is the phrase-meaning. Were one to construe it by the meanings of the letter-marks and the rest, it holds measureless person-and-dharma meanings, hard to exhaust through kalpas. Those who wish to hear should further inquire according to the Dharma. The verse:”13

The mantra is inconceivable; observing and reciting it, ignorance is removed. One syllable holds a thousand principles; in this very body one realizes the dharma-thusness. Practicing on and on, one reaches perfect quiescence; going on and on, one enters the original beginning. The three realms are a traveler’s inn; the one-mind is the true dwelling.

Objection: is the dhāraṇī to be expounded at all?

“Question: The dhāraṇī is the Tathāgata’s secret speech; that is why the old Tripiṭaka-masters and the exegetes all shut their mouths and laid down their brushes. To make this interpretation now deeply violates the sages’ intent.”14

[Answer:] The Tathāgata’s expounding of the Dharma is of two kinds — one exoteric, one esoteric. For the exoteric faculties he expounds many names and phrases; for the esoteric faculties he expounds the dhāraṇī-syllables. This is why the Tathāgata himself expounds the manifold meanings of the syllable a (阿), the syllable oṃ (唵), and the rest — he makes this exposition for the esoteric faculties. Nāgārjuna (龍猛), Śubhakarasiṃha (無畏), and Amoghavajra (廣智) likewise expounded their meaning. Whether one can or cannot [do so] lies simply in the teaching and the faculties. To expound it or to keep silent about it — both accord with the Buddha’s intent.

Objection: esoteric meaning in an exoteric sūtra?

“Question: The two teachings, exoteric and esoteric, are as far apart in aim as heaven [from earth]. To expound esoteric meaning within this exoteric sūtra is impermissible.”15

[Answer:] To the Medicine-King’s eye, everything met along the road is medicine; to one who knows treasure, ore and stone are treasure. Knowing and not-knowing — whose fault, whose error is that? Moreover, the mantra, ritual-manual, and contemplation-method of this deity [Prajñā Bodhisattva] are expounded within the Vajraśekhara (金剛頂) — this is the most secret within the secret. And the response-body Śākyamuni, dwelling in the Jetavana (給孤園), expounded for bodhisattvas, devas, and humans the painted-image altar-method, the mantras, the hand-mudrās, and so on — these too are secret; the third scroll of the Dhāraṇī-samuccaya is this. Exoteric and esoteric lie in the person; the sound-and-syllable is not [itself the divide]. And yet still there is the secret within the exoteric, and the most-secret within the secret — shallow and deep, layer upon layer, that is all.

Closing verse

“Relying on the secret mantra-meaning, I have briefly praised the five-section text of the Heart Sūtra. Each syllable, each phrase pervades the dharma-realm; without end, without beginning — a portion of my own mind. Cataract-eyed beings, blind, do not see it; Mañjuśrī’s prajñā can untangle the confusion. Sprinkle this sweet-dew and moisten the deluded, and together they cut off ignorance and break the Māra-army.”16

— The Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra.

Colophon

“At that time, in the spring of Kōnin 9 (818), a great epidemic lay upon the realm. Thereupon the Emperor himself dipped gold onto his brush-tip, held indigo paper in his palm, and reverently copied out one scroll of the Heart Sūtra. Following that model, I composed this exposition for its recitation, stringing together the tenets of the sūtra’s meaning. Before I had even finished uttering the words of the completion-vow, the revived multitudes [rose again] along the roads; night turned, and the day’s light blazed. This was not the merit of my own foolish self’s precept-virtue — it was the working of the Golden-Wheel [Sovereign]’s power of faith. Only let those who visit the shrines reverently recite this Secret Key. Long ago I attended the mat of the Dharma-expounding on Vulture Peak and heard this profound text with my own ears — how could I fail to fathom its meaning? That is all.”17

— Submitted in memorial by the śramaṇa Kūkai, who entered the Tang.

End Notes

  1. 「客問。般若心經祕鍵跋語古來有疑。謂非大師之筆記。師以爲若何。答。後人杜撰者如對臺鏡。何以云爾。曰。筆力甚拙。非表曰上表。足可一笑矣。弘仁九年大疫國史無載。奚無稽哉。…類聚國史第一百七十三災異部云。弘仁十四年二月。天下大疫。」 — 寂照堂谷響集 卷六, quoted in 修驗故事便覽 卷一, SGD, Vol III, koma 283 (printed p. 545). The Benran concludes 「後人ノ杜撰トシ、一ニハ文章鄙拙。二ニハ國史無載。三ニハ非表曰表ノ三難尤通徹セリ」, and that the story of Emperor Saga’s gold-letter Heart Sūtra ending the epidemic is 「アトカタナキ虛誕」 (koma 284, printed p. 546). ↩

  2. 般若心經祕鍵并序　遍照金剛撰文殊利劍絶諸戲　覺母梵文調御師 dhīḥ 眞言爲種子　含藏諸教陀羅尼無邊生死何能斷　唯有禪那正思惟尊者三摩仁不讓　我今讃述垂哀悲 ↩

  3. 夫佛法非遙。心中即近。眞如非外。棄身何求。迷悟在我。則發心即到。明暗非他。則信修忽證。哀哉哀哉長眠子。苦哉痛哉狂醉人。痛狂笑不醉。酷睡嘲覺者。不曾訪醫王之藥。何時見大日之光。至若翳障輕重覺悟遲速。機根不同。性欲即異。遂使二教殊轍。分手金蓮之場。五乘並轡。踠蹄幻影之埵。隨其解毒得藥即別。慈父導子之方。大綱在此乎 ↩

  4. 大般若波羅蜜多心經者。即是大般若菩薩大心眞言三摩地法門。文缺一紙。行則十四。可謂簡而要約而深。五藏般若嗛一句而不飽。七宗行果歠一行而不足。觀在薩埵則擧諸乘之行人。度苦涅槃則褰諸教之得樂。五蘊横指迷境。三佛竪示悟心。言色空則普賢解頤圓融之義。談不生則文殊破顏絶戲之觀。説之識界簡持拍手。泯之境智歸一快心。十二因縁指生滅於麟角。四諦法輪驚苦空於羊車。況復 gate 二字呑諸藏之行果。pāra 兩言孕顯密之法教。一一聲字歴劫之談不盡。一一名實塵滴之佛無極。是故誦持講供則拔苦與樂。修習思惟則得道起通。甚深之稱誠宜可然。余教童之次。聊撮綱要釋彼五分。釋家雖多。未釣此幽。翻譯同異顯密差別。並如後釋。 ↩

  5. 或問云。般若第二未了之教。何能呑三顯之經。如來説法。一字含五乘之義。一念説三藏之法。何況一部一品何匱何無。龜卦爻蓍含萬象而無盡。帝網聲論呑諸義而不窮。難者曰。若然前來法匠何不吐斯言。答。聖人投藥隨機深淺。賢者説默待時待人。吾未知蓋可言不言不可言言。不言言之。失智人斷而已。 ↩

  6. 佛説摩訶般若波羅蜜多心經者。就此題額有二別。梵漢別故。今謂佛説摩訶般若波羅蜜多心經者。胡漢雜擧。説･心･經三字漢名。餘九字胡號。若具梵名曰 buddhabhāṣa-mahāprajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtram。初二字圓滿覺者之名。次二字開悟密藏施甘露之稱。次二字就大多勝立義。次二字約定慧樹名。次三就所作已辯爲號。次二據處中表義。次二以貫線攝持等顯字。若以總義説。皆具人法喩。斯則大般若波羅蜜多菩薩之名。即是人。此菩薩具法曼荼羅眞言三摩地門。一一字即法。此一一名皆以世間淺名表法性深號。即是喩。此三摩地門。佛在鷲峯山。爲鶖子等説之。 ↩

  7. 此經數翻譯有。第一羅什三藏譯。今所説本是。次唐遍覺三藏翻。題無佛説摩訶四字。五蘊下加等字。遠離下除一切字。陀羅尼後無功能。次大周義淨三藏本。題省摩訶字。眞言後加功能。又法月及般若兩三藏翻。並有序分･流通。又陀羅尼集經第三卷説此眞言法。經題與羅什同。言般若心者。此菩薩有身心等陀羅尼。是經眞言即大心呪。依此心眞言得般若心名。或云。略出大般若經心要故名心。不是別會説云云。所謂如有龍之蛇鱗。 ↩

  8. 此經總有五分。第一人法總通分。觀自在云より至度一切苦厄是。第二分別諸乘分。色不異空云より至無所得故是。第三行人得益分。菩提薩埵云より至三藐三菩提是也。第四總歸持明分。故知般若云より至眞實不虚是也。第五祕藏眞言分。gate gate 云より至 svāhā 是也。 ↩

  9. 第一人法總通分有五。因･行･證･入･持是也。言觀自在能行人。即此人本覺菩提爲因。深般若能所觀法。即是行。照空則能證智。度苦則所得果。果即入也。依彼教人智無量。依智差別時亦多。三生三劫六十百妄執差別。是名時。頌曰觀人修智慧　深照五衆空歴劫修念者　離煩一心通 ↩

  10. 第二分別諸乘分亦五。建･絶･相･二･一是也。初建者。所謂建立如來三摩地門是。色不異空より至亦復如是是也。建立如來即普賢菩薩祕號。普賢圓因以圓融三法爲宗。故以名之。又是一切如來菩提心行願之身。頌曰色空本不二　事理元來同無礙融三種　金水喩其宗二絶者。所謂無戲論如來三摩地門是也。是諸法空相より至不増不減是。言無戲論如來。即文殊菩薩密號。文殊利劍能揮八不絶彼妄執之心乎。是故以名。頌曰八不絶諸戲　文殊是彼人獨空畢竟理　義用最幽眞三相者。所謂摩訶栴多羅冐地薩怛嚩三摩地門是也。是故空中無色より至無意識界是也。大慈三昧以與樂爲宗。示因果爲誡。相性別論。唯識遮境。心只在此乎。頌曰二我何時斷　三祇證法身阿陀是識性　幻影即名賓四二者。唯蘊無我拔業因種是也。是即二乘三摩地門也。無無明より至無老死盡。即是因縁佛之三昧。頌曰風葉知因縁　輪迴覺幾年露花除種子　羊鹿號相連無苦集滅道。此是一句五字即依聲得道之三昧。頌曰白骨我何在　青瘀人本無吾師是四念　羅漢亦何虞五一者。阿哩也嚩路枳帝冐地薩怛嚩之三摩地門也。無智より至無所得故是也。此得自性清淨如來。以一道清淨妙蓮不染。開示衆生拔其苦厄。智擧能達。得名所證。既泯理智。強以一名。法華･涅槃等攝末歸本教。唯含此十字。諸乘差別智者察之。頌曰觀蓮知自淨　見菓覺心徳一道泯能所　三車即歸默 ↩

  11. 第三行人得益分有二。人･法是也。初人有七。前六後一。隨乘差別薩埵有異故。又薩埵有四。愚･識･金･智是也。次又法･四。謂因･行･證･入也。般若即能因能行。無礙離障即入涅槃。能證覺智即證果。如文思知。頌曰行人數是七　重二彼之法圓寂將菩提　正依何事乏 ↩

  12. 第四總歸持明分又三。名･體･用。四種呪明擧名。眞實不虚指體。能除諸苦顯用。擧名中。初是大神呪聲聞眞言。二縁覺眞言。三大乘眞言。四祕藏眞言。若以通義。一一眞言皆具四名。略示一隅。圓智之人三即歸一。頌曰總持有文義　忍呪悉持明聲字與人法　實相具此名 ↩

  13. 第五祕藏眞言分有五。初 gate 顯聲聞行果。二 gate 擧縁覺行果。三 pāragate 指諸大乘最勝行果。四 pārasaṃgate 明眞言曼荼羅具足輪圓行果。五 bodhi svāhā 説上諸乘究竟菩提證入義。句義如是。若約字相義等釋之。有無量人法等義。歴劫難盡。若要聞者依法更問。頌曰眞言不思議　觀誦無明除一字含千理　即身證法如行行至圓寂　去去入原初三界如客舍　一心是本居 ↩

  14. 問。陀羅尼是如來祕密語。所以古三藏諸疏家。皆閉口絶筆。今作此釋。深背聖旨。如來説法有二種。一顯二祕。爲顯機説多名句。爲祕根説總持字。是故如來自説 a 字 oṃ 字等種種義。是則爲祕機作此説。龍猛･無畏･廣智等。亦説其義。能不之間在教機耳。説之默之。並契佛意。 ↩

  15. 問。顯密二教其旨天懸。今此顯經中説祕義不可。醫王之目觸途皆藥。解寶之人礦石見寶。知與不知。何誰罪過。又此尊眞言儀軌觀法。佛金剛頂中説。此祕中極祕。應化釋迦在給孤園。爲菩薩天人説畫像壇法眞言手印等。亦是祕密。陀羅尼集經第三卷是。顯密在人。聲字即非。然猶顯中之祕。祕中極祕。淺深重重耳。 ↩

  16. 我依祕密眞言義　略讃心經五分文一字一文遍法界　無終無始我心分翳眼衆生盲不見　曼儒般若能解紛灑斯甘露霑迷者　同斷無明破魔軍般若心經祕鍵 ↩

  17. 于時弘仁九年春。天下大疫。爰帝皇自染黄金於筆端。握紺紙於爪掌。奉書寫般若心經一卷。予範講讀之撰。綴經旨之宗。未吐結願詞。蘇生族于途。夜變而日光赫赫。是非愚身戒徳。金輪御信力所爲也。但詣神舍輩。奉誦此祕鍵。昔予陪鷲峯説法之莚。親聞是深文。豈不達其義而已。入唐沙門空海上表 ↩