Some Questions Concerning the Title of the Prajñāpāramitā-hr ̇ daya[-sūtra]

抄録

    The Prajñāpāramitā-hrdaya[-sūtra](Heart Sūtra) was translated into Chinese and Tibetan, and it circulated mainly in the sphere of Northeast Asian Buddhism.Among the Chinese translations, that by Xuanzang 玄奘has been held in the highest regard, and almost all the commentaries on the Prajñāpāramitā-hrdaya composed in China, Korea, and Japan have been based on Xuanzangʼs translation.
　The extant Sanskrit manuscripts and the Tibetan translations, on the other hand, mostly belong to a different textual lineage from that of Xuanzangʼs translation. Consequently, in research on the Prajñāpāramitā-hrdaya in East Asia, the examination of the original Sanskrit text and Tibetan translations is still inadequate.
　There has also been much discussion about the position of the Prajñāpāramitāhrdaya, typical of which is the question of whether it is a sūtra expounding emptiness or a sūtra teaching a mantra. These questions are in fact related to the sūtraʼs title.
　As is well known, a famous mantra has been appended to the Prajñāpāramitā-hrdaya. Even though it does not in fact constitute a dhāranī, among the several designations of this sūtra there are some that declare it to be a dhāranī. How is one to view such inconsistencies?
　In this paper I shall examine the textual lineages of the Prajñāpāramitā-hrdaya and its position as seen from its title.