There are two Sanskrit versions of the Heart Suutra, an extensive and abridged one. Their difference lies in the introductory and concluding sections which are only found in the extensive version. In China, it was the short version which was generally commented upon after it had been translated by Hsuan-tsang. For some of these commentaries Conze's observation holds true that they rather expressed the traditional indigenous culture than the contents of the Indian originals. Originals in this context refers to the seven Indian Heart Suutra commentaries preserved in the Tibetan canon. In Conze's opinion, Chinese annotations tend to differ from Indian exegesis and he sees the influence of traditional Chinese culture at work here. The present writer believes that, in addition, different doctrinal points of view might also have played a role.
The presen paper is a study on the earliest and shortest of these seven commentaries, the one by Kamal `siila. His glosses make clear how he as a late Indian Mahaayaana scholar of Yogic Autonomy Middle Way School persuasion understood the Heart Suutra, how he integrated the idea of the five paths, how he employed valid cognition to practice and ascertain praj~naapaaramita, the mother of all Buddhas, and so on.
