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 Thus Come One has taught the second decisive meaning (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 in the same case. Since the time without beginning we and our delusions have both been subject to birth and death, and although we have cultivated good qualities that have enabled us to widen our knowledge by hearing and so are called ‘leavers of homes’, we are like someone suffering from malaria which recurs every other day. Will you take pity on us and save us from drowning? Will you tell us which of our bodies and minds are in a knot and how to untie it so that all suffering beings can escape from 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 took pity on Ānanda and those in the assembly who still needed to study and learn as well as on future living beings. In order to enable them to sow the cause of their future appearance in the world (as teachers) 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 in the ten directions shook six times and Thus Come Ones, countless as motes of dust, sent out, from the tops of their heads, radiant rays of light which reached Jetavana to shine upon the crown of the Thus Come One’s head, an unprecedented event not seen before by the assembly. Thereupon, Ānanda and all those present heard Thus Come Ones 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 transmigrate in saṃsāra, it is simply that the roots of your birth and death are your six sense organs. If you want to know about Supreme Bodhi, it is these six organs that will enable you speedily to realize happiness in liberation and permanence in Nirvāṇa.”
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 had heard these Dharma voices, he was still not clear about their meaning. He bowed and asked the Buddha, “How can the same six organs cause me to transmigrate in saṃsāra and be happy in absolute Nirvāṇa?”
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, “Both organs and their objects spring from the same source, bondage and liberation are not two different things. The nature of consciousness is illusory, like flowers in the sky. Ānanda! Your knowing originates from each phenomenon which takes on form because of your sense organs. Both form and seeing are mutually dependent, like two bundles of rushes that stand by leaning against each other. Therefore, if your intellect acts as the knower, this is the root of your ignorance (but) if it is free from seeing, it will be Nirvāṇa which is transcendental and pure. How then can the latter allow foreign elements to intrude?”
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 due to conditions, they are 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。」
Thus Ānanda and the assembly listened to the compassionate Buddha’s unsurpassed sermon and gāthā whose profound meanings were so enlightening and penetrating, that their mental eyes were opened; 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 take pity on 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？」
Thus the Thus Come One who was on his lion-seat, adjusted his inner garments and outer robe and took from the table a piece of beautiful cloth which a Yama deva had given him. Then in the presence of the assembly, He tied a knot and showed it to Ānanda asking, “What is this called?”
阿難大眾俱白佛言：「此名為結。」
Ānanda and the great assembly 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 Thus Come One tied another knot and asked: “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.” The Buddha tied four more knots, showing each to Ānanda and asking: “What is this?” They all replied that each was 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 told Ānanda, “When I first tied this cloth, you called it a knot. There is only one piece of 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! Although there is only one piece of cloth, if you tie it once, there will be a knot and if you tie it a hundred times, there will be a hundred knots. But this cloth has only six knots because you only tied it six times. Why do you agree to my calling the first tie a knot and disagree to the second and third ones also being called 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 jewel flower cloth was originally only one piece of cloth but when I tied it six times, there were six knots. As you see it, the length of cloth was the same before but is now different with its six knots. The first knot I tied was called the first one and altogether I tied six of them, do you think that the sixth one can be called 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! So long as there are six knots, the last one is the sixth and cannot be called the first. Even if I discuss this for the rest of my life, how can I number these six knots in the wrong order?”
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 replied, “These six knots are different but come from one length of cloth and you cannot reverse their order. It is the same with your six sense organs which, though coming from the same (source), are manifestly 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, “Clearly you object to the six knots and prefer one (piece of cloth) but how can you obtain it?”
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 replied, “If these six knots remain, concepts of right and wrong will arise in great confusion, with such things as this knot is not that one and that knot is not this one. If the Thus Come One were to now untie all the knots, there would remain nothing, with complete elimination of ‘thisness’ and ‘thatness’: then in the absence of even one (knot), how can 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, “Likewise, when the six knots are untied, the one also vanishes. It is because of confusion in your disturbed mind since the time without beginning that your intellect gives rise to illusions, the unceasing creation of which disturbs your seeing and causes it to perceive objects in the same way that troubled eyes see dancing flowers in what is most clear and bright, and without any cause all worldly phenomena such as mountains, rivers, the great earth, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa arise, which are but dancing flowers (created by) confusion, perturbance, and inversion.”
阿難言：「此勞同結，云何解除？」
Ānanda replied, “How can one untie these knots created by perturbance and confusion?”
如來以手將所結巾偏掣其左，問阿難言：「如是解不？」
The Thus Come One then held up the piece of cloth, pulled its left end and asked, “Can it be untied in this way, or not?”
「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, or not?”
「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 ends of the cloth but have been unable to untie the knots. What will you do now?”
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! A knot should be untied from its heart. Ānanda! The Buddha Dharma which I expound manifests from dependent-origination and is beyond the characteristics of the merging and union of dust in the world. The Thus Come One makes clear worldly and transcendent dharmas, knowing their chief causes and concurrent conditions, even being clear about the number of drops of rain in a place as many miles away from here as there are sand grains in the Ganges River, as well as why pine trees arc straight and brambles grow crooked, and why geese are white and crows black. Therefore, Ānanda! Choose one organ from the six, and if its knot is untied, all objects of that sense will vanish of themselves. When all illusions disappear, if this is not Reality, what more do you expect? Ānanda! Tell me now if the six knots of this cloth can be untied simultaneously.”
「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! Because they were originally tied one after the other and should be untied in the same order. Although they are in the same piece of cloth, they were not tied simultaneously; how can they now 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 organs should be disengaged in the same way. When you begin to disentangle them, you first realize that the self (ātman/pudgala) is empty. When this emptiness is perfectly clear, you will realize liberation through the emptiness of dharmas (phenomena). 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.”