devanagari

iha wariputra rupam wunyata wunyata eva rupam.
|             |                |              |                |            |           |
adv.     N.m.         N.n.        N.f.           N.f.       part.     N.n.
|         Voc.sg.    Nom.sg.  Nom.sg.     Nom.sg.      |      Nom.sg.
|_______|                |________|                |            |______|
      |                               |                       |__________|
      |                               |__________________|
      |__________________________|

iha, adv.: here

wariputra-, m.: one of Buddha's foremost disciples,

rupa-, n.: form,

wunyata-, f.: emptiness, abstractum of wunya-, adj., empty,

eva, adv.: just, only,

Here, Sariputra, the form is emptiness, emptiness is just the form.

    In this sentence, Avalokitewvara addresses Wariputra, in older Buddhism one of the most important disciples of the Buddha, truly, one of the two foremost disciples. He and monk Maudgalyayana are repeatedly called the most spiritually advanced monks and are considered to be the example for all the others.
    By picturing Avalokitewvara as lecturing Wariputra the authors of this sutra hoped to get across the message that Mahayanic teaching is superior to that of the older Buddhism - even Wariputra is unable to understand it and has to ask bodhisattvas (such as Avalokitewvara) for help in this matter.
    The word "here" denotes the level of attainment reached by Avalokitewvara. On lower levels (such as older Buddhism, seems to be suggested) things seem to be different but once you reach this high stage - the truth reveals itself.
    Now follows very shocking statement: "the form is emptiness". Older schools of Buddhism tended to analyze Universe into dharmas or constituent elements. Here comes the sentence which tries to negate their five hundred years long effort. The form (we could say the matter) is identified with emptiness. It doesn't mean just "it's empty". Complete identification is proclaimed here.
    And the second half of the sentence seals this: emptiness is the form. There is no emptiness outside of the form (and the other skandhas which follow in the sentence 8).

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