阿難白佛言：「世尊！如來雖說第二義門，今觀世間解結之人，若不知其所結之元，我信是人終不能解。世尊！我及會中有學聲聞亦復如是，從無始際與諸無明俱滅俱生，雖得如是多聞善根名為出家，猶隔日瘧。唯願大慈哀愍淪溺，今日身心云何是結？從何名解？亦令未來苦難眾生，得免輪迴，不落三有。」作是語已，普及大眾五體投地雨淚翹誠，佇佛如來無上開示。
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! Although the Tathāgata has taught the two decisive meanings (nītārtha, of generating bodhicitta), I think that if a worldly person good at untying knots does not know how they came to be tied, they will be unable to undo them. In this assembly I and those who need to study and learn more, are the same way. Since the time without beginning we and our delusions have both been subject to birth and death, and although we have cultivated good roots that have enabled us to widen our knowledge by hearing and so are called ‘leavers of home’, we are like someone suffering from malaria which recurs every other day. Will you have sympathy for us and save us from drowning? Will you tell us how the body and mind are in a knot and how to untie it so that all suffering beings can escape from the wheel of return (輪迴saṃsāra) and avoid falling into the three realms of existence?” After saying this, he and all the assembly prostrated themselves, shed bitter tears and eagerly awaited the Buddha’s supreme revelation.
爾時，世尊憐愍阿難及諸會中諸有學者，亦為未來一切眾生為出世因、作將來眼，以閻浮檀紫光金手摩阿難頂，即時十方普佛世界六種振動，微塵如來住世界者各有寶光從其頂出，其光同時於彼世界來祇陀林灌如來頂，是諸大眾得未曾有。於是阿難及諸大眾，俱聞十方微塵如來異口同音告阿難言：「善哉，阿難！汝欲識知俱生無明，使汝輪轉生死結根，唯汝六根更無他物。汝復欲知無上菩提，令汝速登安樂解脫寂靜妙常，亦汝六根更非他物。」
Thereupon, the World-Honored One had sympathy for Ānanda and those in the assembly who still needed to study and learn as well as for future living beings, in order to enable them to sow the cause of their future appearance in the world (as buddhas) and so become the eye (of wisdom) to guide coming generations. He extended his shining golden-hued hand to touch Ānanda’s head. Thereupon all Buddha lands throughout the ten directions shook six ways and Tathāgatas, countless as motes of dust, sent out from the tops of their heads radiant rays of light which reached Jetavana and shined upon the crown of the Tathāgata’s head, an unprecedented event not seen before by the assembly. Whereupon, Ānanda and all those present heard Tathāgatas as countless as motes of dust, all declare with one voice, “Excellent, Ānanda! If you want to know about the innate ignorance that causes you to turn around (輪轉) in birth and death and tie up the faculties, it is simply the six sense organs and nothing else. If you want to know about Supreme Bodhi, it is these six organs that will enable you to speedily realize the joy of liberation and the wonderful permanence of cessation.”
阿難雖聞如是法音心猶未明，稽首白佛：「云何令我生死輪迴、安樂妙常同是六根，更非他物。」
Although Ānanda heard the sound of the Dharma, he was still not clear about it. He bowed and asked the Buddha, “How can that which causes me to transmigrate in birth and death and the joy and wonderful permanence be the same six sense organs and nothing else?”
佛告阿難：「根塵同源，縛脫無二，識性虛妄猶如空花。阿難！由塵發知，因根有相，相見無性，同於交蘆。是故汝今，知見立知，即無明本；知見無見，斯即涅槃、無漏真淨。云何是中，更容他物？」
The Buddha told Ānanda, "Sense organs and their objects share the same source; bondage and liberation are not two different things. The nature of consciousness is illusory, like flowers in empty space. Ānanda! Knowledge arises from sense objects, and forms appear because of the sense organs. The perceiver and the perceived have no inherent nature - they are like intersecting reeds that support each other. Therefore, when you now establish knowing upon knowing, this becomes the root of ignorance. When knowing has no (object of) seeing, this is nirvana - the pure and undefiled true reality. How could there be room for anything else within this?"
爾時，世尊欲重宣此義，而說偈言：
To emphasize the meaning of this, the World-Honored One spoke the following gāthā:
真性有為空， 緣生故如幻； 無為無起滅， 不實如空花。
The true nature of all conditioned phenomena is empty, Arisen from conditions, hence like illusions; The unconditioned neither arises nor ceases, It is unreal, like flowers in the sky.
言妄顯諸真， 妄真同二妄， 猶非真非真， 云何見所見？
Speech erroneously elucidates all truths, ’False’ and ‘true’ are both false. As there are neither true nor false, How can there be observer and what is observed?
中間無實性， 是故若交蘆； 結解同所因， 聖凡無二路。
Between them there is no true nature, They are like vines that only stand by intersecting; Entanglement and liberation share a common cause, The path of the sage and the commoner are not two.
汝觀交中性， 空有二俱非； 迷晦即無明， 發明便解脫。
You should observe the nature of the point of their intersection, Emptiness and Being, both are not; From the darkness of confusion comes ignorance, Generating light, there is liberation.
解結因次第， 六解一亦亡； 根選擇圓通， 入流成正覺。
Knots must be untied according to a certain sequence, And when the six have been untied, the one will vanish too. Choose one perceiving faculty to fully penetrate, Enter the current and realize true enlightenment.
陀那微細識， 習氣成暴流； 真非真恐迷， 我常不開演。
From the subtle ādāna consciousness The energy of habits can burst forth into a torrent. ’True’ and ‘Not True’ cause confusion, So I rarely speak of this.
自心取自心， 非幻成幻法， 不取無非幻， 非幻尚不生，
But when the mind grasps hold of the mind, What is not illusion then becomes something illusory. Not grasping that which is not illusion, That which is not illusion too will not arise.
幻法云何立？ 是名妙蓮華， 金剛王寶覺， 如幻三摩提，
How could something illusory be established? This is the wonderous lotus flower The jewel-like awakening of the Vajra King The samāpatti of seeing all things as illusion,
彈指超無學。 此阿毘達磨， 十方薄伽梵， 一路涅槃門。」
Which, in a finger-snap, leads to the state beyond study. This Abhidharma is The Bhagavats of the Ten Directions Gateway of the single path to Nirvāṇa.
於是阿難及諸大眾，聞佛如來無上慈誨祇夜、伽陀，雜糅精瑩妙理清徹，心目開明歎未曾有。阿難合掌頂禮白佛：「我今聞佛無遮大悲，性淨妙常真實法句，心猶未達六解一亡舒結倫次。惟垂大慈再愍斯會及與將來，施以法音洗滌沈垢。」
As Ānanda and the assembly listened to the compassionate Buddha’s unsurpassed sermon and gāthā, whose profound meanings were so enlightening and penetrating, their minds’ eyes were opened, and they praised what they had never seen before. Ānanda then brought his palms together, prostrated and said, “I have today listened to the Buddha’s compassionate teaching which revealed the nature which is pure, subtle and permanent Reality, but I am still not clear about how to untie the six knots one after the other and what you meant by ‘when the six knots are undone the one also vanishes.’ Will you again have sympathy for this assembly and future generations and teach us in order to wash our defilements away?”
即時，如來於師子座，整涅槃僧、斂僧伽梨，覽七寶机，引手於机，取劫波羅天所奉花巾，於大眾前綰成一結，示阿難言：「此名何等？」
Thereupon, the Tathāgata, from his lion's seat, adjusted his nivāsana (lower robe), folded his saṅghāṭī (outer robe), gazed upon the seven-jeweled table, extended his hand to the table, took a flowered handkerchief offered by the devas of Kapilavastu, tied it into a knot before the great assembly, and, showing it to Ānanda, asked, "What is this called?"
阿難大眾俱白佛言：「此名為結。」
Ānanda and the great assembly together addressed the Buddha saying, “This is called a knot.”
於是如來綰疊花巾又成一結，重問阿難：「此名何等？」
Thereupon the Tathāgata tied the flower cloth again, making another knot, and he asked Ānanda, “What is this called?”
阿難大眾又白佛言：「此亦名結。」如是倫次綰疊花巾總成六結，一一結成，皆取手中所成之結持問阿難此名何等？阿難大眾亦復如是，次第酬佛此名為結。
Ānanda and the great assembly addressed the Buddha saying, “This also is called a knot.”
Like this, the flower cloth was tied again and again until there were six knots, tied one by one, each time in his hand, showing each knot to Ānanda and asking, ‘What is this?’ and Ānanda and the great assembly again and again replied to the Buddha saying ‘This is a knot.’
佛告阿難：「我初綰巾，汝名為結，此疊花巾先實一條，第二第三云何汝曹復名為結？」
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “When I first tied the cloth, you called it a knot. There is only one piece of flower cloth but why did you call the second and third ties also knots?
阿難白佛言：「世尊！此寶疊花緝績成巾，雖本一體，如我思惟：『如來一綰得一結名，若百綰成終名百結，何況此巾秖有六結，終不至七亦不停五。』云何如來秖許初時，第二第三不名為結？」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, "World-Honored One! This precious flower cloth was woven into a handkerchief, and although it is originally one piece, as I think about it: 'When the Tathāgata tied it once, it was called one knot, and if it were tied a hundred times, it would be called a hundred knots. How much more so with this cloth that has six knots, no more than seven and no less than five.' Why does the Tathāgata only acknowledge the first tie as a knot, but not recognize the second and third as knots?”
佛告阿難：「此寶花巾，汝知此巾元止一條，我六綰時名有六結，汝審觀察，巾體是同因結有異。於意云何，初綰結成名為第一，如是乃至第六結生，吾今欲將第六結名成第一不？」
The Buddha told Ānanda, "This jeweled flower handkerchief, as you know, was originally just one piece. When I tied it six times, it formed six knots. Observe carefully: the cloth itself is the same, but because of the knots, it appears different. What do you think, when the first knot was tied, it was called the first; and so on until the sixth knot was formed. Now, could I call the sixth knot the first knot?”
「不也，世尊！六結若存，斯第六名終非第一，縱我歷生盡其明辯，如何令是六結亂名。」
"No, World-Honored One! As long as the six knots exist, the sixth one can never be called the first. Even if I were to argue this point through many lifetimes with all my eloquence, how could these six knots possibly be named in a disordered way?”
佛言：「六結不同，循顧本因一巾所造，令其雜亂終不得成，則汝六根亦復如是，畢竟同中生畢竟異。」
The Buddha said, "The six knots are different, but looking back at their cause, they were made from one cloth. You cannot rearrange them into a different order. Similarly, your six sense organs are like this - from what is ultimately the same source arises what is ultimately different.”
佛告阿難：「汝必嫌此六結不成，願樂一成，復云何得？」
The Buddha told Ānanda, "You obviously object to these six knots and prefer to have one (unified piece of cloth). How can this be achieved?”
阿難言：「此結若存，是非鋒起於中自生，此結非彼彼結非此，如來今日若總解除，結若不生則無彼此，尚不名一，六云何成？」
Ānanda said, "If these knots remain, disputes will arise by themselves, such as 'this knot is not that knot' and 'that knot is not this knot.' If the Tathāgata were to untie them all today, and if no knots were to form, then there would be no 'this' and 'that.' There would not even be 'one,' so how could there be 'six'?”
佛言：「六解一亡亦復如是。由汝無始心性狂亂，知見妄發發妄不息，勞見發塵如勞目睛，則有狂花於湛精明，無因亂起一切世間山河、大地、生死、涅槃，皆即狂勞顛倒花相。」
The Buddha said, "When the six knots are untied, the one also vanishes. It is like this. Since beginningless time, your mind-nature has been confused and chaotic, giving rise to false perceptions that never cease. Your troubled vision creates objects, just as strained eyes see illusory flowers in clear space. Without any cause, all worldly phenomena - mountains, rivers, the great earth, birth and death, and even nirvana - arise in disorder; they are all like illusory flowers born of confusion, exhaustion, and inversion.”
阿難言：「此勞同結，云何解除？」
Ānanda said, "This confusion is like a knot. How can it be removed?”
如來以手將所結巾偏掣其左，問阿難言：「如是解不？」
The Tathāgata took the knotted handkerchief, pulled at its left side, and asked Ānanda, "Can it be untied this way?”
「不也，世尊！」
“No, World-Honored One!”
旋復以手偏牽右邊，又問阿難：「如是解不？」
The Buddha then pulled the right end and asked, “Can it be untied in this way?”
「不也，世尊！」
“No, World-Honored One!”
佛告阿難：「吾今以手左右各牽竟不能解，汝設方便，云何成解？」
The Buddha told Ānanda, "I have now pulled both the left and right sides but have been unable to untie the knots. What method would you suggest to untie them?”
阿難白佛言：「世尊！當於結心解即分散。」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! A knot should be untied from its center (heart/mind).”
佛告阿難：「如是，如是！若欲除結，當於結心。阿難！我說佛法從因緣生，非取世間和合麁相，如來發明世出世法，知其本因隨所緣出，如是乃至恒沙界外，一滴之雨亦知頭數，現前種種松直、棘曲、鵠白、烏玄皆了元由。是故，阿難！隨汝心中選擇六根，根結若除塵相自滅，諸妄銷亡不真何待。阿難！吾今問汝，此劫波羅巾六結現前，同時解縈得同除不？」
The Buddha told Ānanda, "So it is, so it is! If you wish to remove a knot, you must do so from its center. Ānanda! The Buddha Dharma which I teach arises from causes and conditions, and does not take the coarse appearances of worldly combinations. The Tathāgata reveals both worldly and transcendent dharmas, knowing their fundamental causes and how they arise from conditions. Thus, even beyond worlds as numerous as grains of sand in the Ganges River, I know the exact number of raindrops, and understand the original reasons why pines grow straight, thorns grow crooked, swans are white, and crows are black. Therefore, Ānanda! Choose one of the six sense organs according to your mind's inclination. If the knot of that organ is removed, the appearances of its objects will vanish by themselves. When all illusions disappear, what else could there be but True Reality? Ānanda! I now ask you, can the six knots in this Kapilavastu cloth before us be untied all at once?”
「不也，世尊！是結本以次第綰生，今日當須次第而解，六結同體結不同時，則結解時云何同除？」
"No, World-Honored One! These knots were originally tied one after another in sequence, so now they must be untied in sequence. Although the six knots are in the same piece of cloth, they were not tied at the same time. So how could they be untied all at once?”
佛言：「六根解除亦復如是。此根初解先得人空，空性圓明成法解脫，解脫法已俱空不生，是名菩薩從三摩地得無生忍。」
The Buddha said, "The six sense organs should be disengaged in the same way. When you begin to disentangle them, you first realize that personhood (ātman) is empty. When this emptiness is perfectly clear, you will realize liberation through the emptiness of things (dharmas). Having been liberated from dharmas, the emptiness of both self and dharmas does not occur, and this is called the bodhisattva's attainment of the patient tolerance of birthlessness from samādhi.”