Then the Bhagavat, having taught that dhāraṇī mantra, in order to benefit that vast assembly of bodhisattva mahāsattvas, devas, humans, and so on, and enable them to understand the very profound ultimate truth, and in order to teach them emptiness, recited these verses:

“I have taught the true Dharma of emptiness Extensively in other profound sūtras. At this time, in this king of sūtras, I shall teach inconceivable emptiness in brief.

“Beings with no knowledge are unable to understand A lengthy, extensive, profound Dharma. Therefore, from my teaching briefly in this sūtra, They will understand the Dharma of emptiness perfectly.

“Because of my great compassion and love for beings, From my teaching today in this vast gathered assembly, Through the perfect cause and condition of extremely skillful methods, They will clearly understand the meaning of emptiness.

“Know that this body is like an empty village Where live six thieves who do not know one another. The six sensory objects dwell with the separate senses, the thieves, And they similarly have no knowledge of one another.

“The sense of sight is always looking at forms. The sense of hearing continuously hears sounds. The sense of smell is always smelling smells. The sense of taste is always experiencing flavors.

“The sense of touch seizes soft tactility. The mental sense never tires of cognizing phenomena. These six senses follow after things And give rise to thoughts about their objects.

“The consciousnesses are not real, like magical illusions. They dwell in the sense organs and, wanting company, search for it. The six consciousnesses in the six senses are like A man who is running around in an empty village.

“The mind follows into the places of searching, And, through the sensory bases cognizing objects of perception, There is the constant craving for form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, And there is not a single instant when the practice of Dharma is present.

“According to the conditions, the six senses run, Like a bird flying unimpeded in the sky. In dependence on the senses as a basis, There is the ability to cognize external objects.

“The body has no consciousness, and it has no creator. It has an unstable nature and was created through conditions. It arises from invalid conceptualization. It is like a machine that is used for work.

“Earth, fire, water, and air together create the body, So according to causes and conditions, different results are obtained. Though they dwell together, they harm one another Like four poisonous snakes in one basket.

“The four snakes of the great elements have different natures. Though they live together, some are higher, some lower. They go upward and downward, pervading the body, And in the end these become phenomena that cease.

“Among these four poisonous snakes, The earth and water snakes mostly sink downward. The fire and air snakes have a light nature, And because of this conflict, many illnesses arise.

“The mind and consciousnesses live in this body And create various kinds of good and bad actions So that they go to the deva, human, or three lower existences, Taking a body in accord with the power of their karma.

“When the body has encountered illness, after death It is completely filled by feces, urine, and all other impurities. It becomes rotten, damaged by worms, and undesirable to see, And it is cast into a charnel ground as if it were rotten wood.

“You should observe phenomena in that way! Why should you believe that a self or a being exists? All phenomena come to an end and so are impermanent. They all rise from the condition of ignorance.

“These great elements have no reality. They have no real existence; their nature is unborn. Therefore, it is taught that the great elements are in essence empty. Know that these are empty and that they are not real.

“The nature of ignorance is primordially nonexistent. It is not existent through an accumulation based on the power of many factors. A correct understanding is devoid of it at all times, And therefore that is why I teach it to be ignorance.

“Formations and consciousness are the factors for name and form; The six āyatanas, contact, and sensation arise afterward. Craving, grasping, and becoming produce birth, old age, and death, And they are followed by misery, lamentation, and agitation.

“There is no time limit to circling in saṃsāra, Continuously bound and pierced by bad karma and various sufferings. Although this has no existent nature and in essence is empty, It is created by mistaken thoughts.

“I have completely eliminated all kleśas, And I am always active within true wisdom. I realized that all the five-skandha houses are empty And searched for the true state of enlightenment.

“I have opened the gate to the great city of amṛta. I have revealed the vessel of excellent amṛta. I have obtained the flavor of the true amṛta And am constantly giving the amṛta to beings.

“I have beaten the sublime, great drum of the Dharma. I have blown the supreme, great conch of the Dharma. I have perfectly lit the great lamp of the Dharma, And I have sent down the sublime, great rain of the Dharma.

“I have completely defeated the enemy, the kleśas. I have raised the great banner of the unsurpassable Dharma. I have brought ignorant beings across the ocean of existence. I have closed the gateway to the three lower existences.

“Beings are burned by the blazing fire of the kleśas And have no one to save them, no protector. I have brought them relief with the perfectly cooling amṛta That relieves their bodies and minds of torment.

“Therefore, throughout countless past eons, I reverently made offerings to the tathāgatas. Maintaining correct conduct, dedicated to enlightenment, I sought the state of the bliss of the Dharma body.

“Without regret, I gave to others my eyes, Arms, legs, children, wives, and servants. I gave to everyone who asked for them My wealth and jewelry of the seven jewels.

“Through meditation on patience and the other perfections, I completed the ten bhūmis and attained true buddhahood. Therefore, I am called an omniscient one, But there are no beings who can fathom that.

“All that grows from this great earth Throughout the trichiliocosm world realms— The forests, the trees, the wild rice, and sesame, Bamboo, and so on, every kind of plant life there is—

“If these and others were cut down and chopped up Until they were made into a powder of the smallest particles, And if this were made into a heap, Its size would be hard to know.

“And similarly, if in all the realms in the ten directions That fill the element of space Their earth was made into a powder of particles, One would be unable to calculate the number of those particles.

“But if the knowledge of all beings Were to all be given to one man, And with that measureless knowledge He could know the number of those particles,

“And if a group of such wise persons tried to know What a bhagavat muni knows in a single instant, They would fail to know or calculate a tiny part of it, Even in many tens of millions of eons.”

At that time, the vast assembly, having heard the Bhagavat teaching this profound nature of emptiness, realized that the four great elements and the five skandhas of all countless beings are by nature empty, and the six senses and six sensory objects are not real but create bondage. They rejected saṃsāra and prayed that they would accomplish truly departing from it, and with extremely clear minds they were overjoyed, and they devotedly practiced what had been taught.