Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 49.djvu/403

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THE LARGER pragM-pAramitA- h/?/daya-sOtra. Adoration to the Omniscient ! This I heard: At one time the Bhagavat dwelt at Ri^agrzha, on the hill Gr/dhrakti/a, together with a large number of Bhikshus and a large number of Bodhisattvas. At that time the Bhagavat was absorbed in a meditation, called Gambhlr&vasambodha. And at the same time the great Bodhisattva Ary&valokite- jvara, performing his study in the deep Pra^tfEA- p4ramit&, thought thus : * There are the five Skan- dhas, and those he (the Buddha ?) considered as something by nature empty/ Then the venerable .S&riputra, through Buddha's power, thus spoke to the Bodhisattva Ary&valokite- Jvara : * If the son or daughter of a family wishes to perform the study in the deep Pra^»&p&ramiti, how is he to be taught ? ' On this the great Bodhisattva AryAvalokite^vara thus spoke to the venerable .S&riputra : ' If the son or daughter of a family wishes to perform the study in the deep Pra^ipiramitd, he must think thus : ' There are five Skandhas, and these he considered as by their nature empty. Form is emptiness, and

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