Two goals from Lawrence Shankland - one from the spot after Scottish football's first on-field review - had Hearts ahead following James Forrest's opener.
Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda turned the game back in Celtic's favour and, although Shankland completed his hat-trick from the spot after a VAR-influenced re-take, Greg Taylor slid in to grab the winner for the champions.
At full-time it was sheer relief for Celtic, who were pushed all the way throughout the 90 minutes, as Ange Postecoglou's side moved five points clear of Rangers, who play Livingston at 15:00 BST on Saturday.
"It was a cracking game with a bit of everything," Postecoglou said. "There was a lot going on out there - it would have been easy to resign ourselves and think it wasn't our day - but once again, they found a way."
Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda turned the game back in Celtic's favour and, although Shankland completed his hat-trick from the spot after a VAR-influenced re-take, Greg Taylor slid in to grab the winner for the champions.
At full-time it was sheer relief for Celtic, who were pushed all the way throughout the 90 minutes, as Ange Postecoglou's side moved five points clear of Rangers, who play Livingston at 15:00 BST on Saturday.
"It was a cracking game with a bit of everything," Postecoglou said. "There was a lot going on out there - it would have been easy to resign ourselves and think it wasn't our day - but once again, they found a way."
Hearts stay seventh but produced their best performance of the season as, despite missing a clutch of defenders, they went toe-to-toe with the league leaders, who had scored 10 times in their last two games.
They were unfortunate to fall behind when Tony Ralston's cross was deflected into the path of Forrest to head home his fourth goal in two matches, after Barrie McKay and Robert Snodgrass had passed up good chances.
But Hearts did haul themselves level before the break. Cameron Carter-Vickers brought down Cammy Devlin in the box and, after being sent to the monitor to review the tackle, referee Nick Walsh overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty.
Substitute Shankland drilled the ball into the net, and did so again a minute after the restart after Josh Ginnelly got the better of Alexandro Bernabei to flash a brilliant ball across the six-yard box.
Celtic boss Postecoglou was bemused at the decision not to award his side a spot kick for Michael Smith's handball in the box at 1-1, but after falling behind his side upped the tempo.
Giakoumakis escaped the clutches of several Hearts players to head in from Aaron Mooy's corner, and then Maeda reacted quickest when the Australian's shot was parried out by goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
The drama was far from finished, though. Devlin was once again racing into the Celtic box when Moritz Jenz - who a avoided a second yellow card - clattered him in attempting to clear the ball, and this time Walsh gave the penalty immediately.
Shankland's penalty was saved by Joe Hart, but Ginnelly was able to turn the rebound home for what he thought was the equaliser.
But a VAR check found that Ginnelly and two Celtic players had encroached, which meant Shankland was forced to re-take, and this time he beat Hart to haul Hearts level at 3-3.
All of that came in a pulsating first 65 minutes, as both sides slugged it out for the final quarter of a fantastic contest.
But it was Celtic who found the crucial moment. Mooy was involved again for the visitors, as his pass found Liel Abada, whose deflected cross fell for a lunging Taylor to net the winner.
There was barely time to draw breath in the final 20 minutes, but Celtic were able to see out victory as they showed fantastic perseverance for the second time in a fortnight.
"I don't get all that 'well done, pat on the back, you did well'," said Neilson. "We didn't take any points. We want to be winning these games. We had Celtic rattled. We should have got ourselves over the line after scoring three goals.
Player of the match - Cammy Devlin
Brave Hearts fall short as Taylor shines - analysis
It's hard to analyse such a frenetic, and frankly ridiculous, 90 minutes. Hearts were magnificent, which was epitomised by Devlin's fight and quality in midfield.
Missing their first-choice defence means they were always going to be vulnerable, and that's now two clean sheets in 18 games this season, but they compensated by having a go. Losing Stephen Humphrys to injury is another blow, though.
As for Celtic, they showed guts to come back amid the drama. Taylor deserves a special mention after coming off the bench to replace the struggling Bernabei.
He roared forward, demanded the ball and ended up scoring the winner. He's been fantastic this season. Another of Scotland's collection of excellent left-backs.
What they said
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: "I was proud of the players but massively disappointed with the outcome. Celtic didn't need to work hard for their goals. We defended brilliantly but gave away four slack goals.
"There were some positives, some negatives with VAR. There's work to be done to get it ironed out. The first penalty is a stonewaller and doesn't get given and we play for three-four minutes. We all know it's a penalty."
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: "I know VAR is there for the big decisions but you'd think they'd get to them a bit earlier. I thought we had a clear handball, but what do I know? You just let it go.
"There's a lot of standing about, a lot of theatre. I'm not a fan of it. If that's the kind of drama you want, there's probably a good movie playing at the cinema tomorrow. You can sit down, get your popcorn and watch it. I like to watch football."
What's next?
Celtic host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday (20:00 BST) before visiting Livingston in the league next Sunday. Hearts face RFS in the Conference League at Tynecastle (20:00) and then travel to take on Ross County on Sunday.
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