PIE (Proto-Indo-European) etymological reconstruction of the Heart Sutra.
用原始印欧语词根「逆向解压」《心经》。
Chinese transliteration preserved what Western translation lost.
中文音译保留了西方意译丢失的东西。
- Xuanzang (649 CE) didn't know PIE linguistics → forced to transliterate → preserved Sanskrit phonology
- Western scholars knew Sanskrit-English cognates → chose semantic translation → lost morphological information
玄奘不懂印欧语系 → 被迫音译 → 保留了梵文发音
西方学者认识同源词 → 直接意译 → 丢了词素信息
Irony: Not knowing the language family enabled preservation; knowing it enabled loss.
讽刺：不认识反而保留，认识反而丢失。
揭谛揭谛 波罗揭谛 波罗僧揭谛 菩提萨婆诃
Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasaṃgate Bodhi Svāhā
| Sanskrit | PIE Root | English Cognate | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gate | *gʷem- (go) | go, gang | Gone! |
| Pāra | *per- (through) | far, para- | Far shore |
| Saṃ | *sem- (one) | same, syn- | Together |
| Bodhi | *bʰewdʰ- (awake) | bode, bid | Awaken |
| Svāhā | su (good) + excl. | well | Well-said! |
Root-level translation / 词根直译：
Go! Go! Far-go! Same-far-go! Awake! Well-said!
去了！去了！去彼岸了！一起去彼岸了！觉醒！善哉！
| Chinese | Sanskrit | Conventional | Root Translation | Actual Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 般若 | Prajñā | Wisdom | Pro-know | Knowledge before experience |
| 空 | Śūnya | Emptiness | Hollow | Inflated but empty inside |
| 苦 | Duḥkha | Suffering | Dys-axle | Misaligned axle-hole |
| 涅槃 | Nirvāṇa | Extinction | Out-wind-blow | Blown out (like a candle) |
| 无明 | Avidyā | Ignorance | Un-wit-see | Eyes not seeing |
| 菩提 | Bodhi | Enlightenment | Bode/Awake | Waking up |
般若波罗蜜多心经 = Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra
| Sanskrit | Root Analysis | English Cognate | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prajñā | pra- (before) + jñā (know) | pro- + know | Pro-know |
| Pāramitā | pāra (far) + mita (measure) | para- + meter | Para-meter |
| Hṛdaya | hṛd (heart) | heart, cardiac | Heart |
| Sūtra | sūtr (thread) | suture, sew | Suture |
Root translation: Pro-know Para-meter Heart Suture
词根直译： 先验之知度彼岸的心之线
Sanskrit and English share a common ancestor: Proto-Indo-European (PIE), spoken ~5000 years ago.
梵文和英语共享一个祖先：原始印欧语（PIE），约5000年前。
| Chinese | Sanskrit | English Cognate | PIE Root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 心 | Hṛdaya | heart, cardiac | *ḱerd- |
| 母 | Mātṛ | mother | *méh₂tēr |
| 三 | Tri | three, triple | *tréyes |
| 五 | Pañca | five, penta- | *pénkʷe |
| 老 | Jarā | year, geriatric | *yeh₁r- |
| 死 | Maraṇa | mortal, murder | *mer- |
| 意 | Manas | mind, mental | *men- |
| 明 | Vidyā | wit, video, idea | *weyd- |
See: Heart_Sutra_Etymological_Analysis.md
Jin Yanyan. (2026). "Lossless Translation of the Heart Sutra: PIE Etymology as a New Paradigm for Buddhist Textual Studies." Zenodo.
https://zenodo.org/records/18263921
- Jayarava. (2014). Placing the Heart in Indo-European
- Conze, E. (1957). Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra
- Heart Sutra - Wikipedia