Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: The Buddhist Book of Protection (chants)

Monday, July 17, 2023

The Buddhist Book of Protection (chants)

Ven. Piyadassi Thera (BPS.lk); Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

PREFACE

The Book of Protection, which is an anthology of selected discourses of the Buddha compiled by the teachers of old, was originally meant as a handbook for the newly ordained novice monastic.

The idea was that those novices who are not capable of studying large portions of the Discourse Collection (Sutta Pitaka) should at least be conversant with The Book of Protection. Even today it is so.

The twenty-four discourses are selected from the five nikáyas or the original collections in the Pali language containing the Buddha’s discourses. The fact that the book was meant for the novice is clear from the prefatory paragraphs that precede the discourses.

The precepts are ten, not the five basic principles of the lay follower. The novice is expected to observe the Ten Precepts. This is followed by the "Questions to be Answered by a Novice" and the "Thirty-Two Parts of the Body," which is really a type of meditation on the constituent parts of the human body.

Then comes the "Fourfold Reflection of a Monastic," and finally the "Ten Essentials (Dhammas)" to be reflected upon by one who has gone forth to live the high life [of a monastic].

The discourses come next. If one patiently and painstakingly studies these discourses or sutras, one could gather knowledge of the essential and fundamental teachings of the Buddha. The Mahá-samaya Sutta (No. 18) and the Átánátiya Sutta ending the book (No. 24) may appear to some as pointless, but a careful reader will no doubt appreciate their relevance.

In the essay "The Book of Protection and the Value of Paritta" an attempt is made to show what paritta means to a Buddhist.

I have endeavored to keep as close as possible to the original wording of the Pali text without making it too liberal a translation, on the one hand, or a word for word translation, on the other, and have avoided translating the Pali stanzas into verse (except the stanzas of Discourses Nos. 5, 11, 19) in order to give a very faithful, easy and readable rendering.

I have preserved the synonymous words and repetitions found in the sutras since they are [presumed to be] the very words of the historical Buddha handed down to us through oral tradition.

In all the sutras the word Bhagavá, the "Blessed One," an epithet of the Buddha [which itself is another epithet meaning the "Awakened One" for Siddhartha Gautama], is frequently used.

To avoid using the same word too often in the translation, I have, at times, used "the Buddha" for Bhagavá or a personal pronoun to denote him.

The Angulimála Paritta is a short discourse that does not appear in the Book of Protection (Paritta text), but as it is a paritta made use of by expectant mothers in Buddhist lands, I have included it in the Appendix.

English renderings of other Pali stanzas used by Buddhists when reciting the parittas are also included in the Appendix.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE to 2nd Edition

This second, retypeset edition of The Book of Protection contains the Pali text, which is derived from the digital text of the Catu-bhánavára as prepared by Bhikkhu Ánandajoti and available on the Metta.lk website.

1. INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

The Book of Protection is a collection of paritta or "protective" discourses — in Sinhalese Pirit Potha — that is the most widely known Pali language book in Sri Lanka.

It can be called a "Buddhist Bible" [for its devotional uses]. It is given an important place in the Buddhist home and is even treated with veneration.

In most houses where there is a small shrine this book is kept there so that the people may refer to it during their devotional hour. Some have committed to memory the three well-known discourses — Mangala, Ratana, and Karanìya-Mettá Suttas. (See Suttas 2, 3, 4).

Even children are familiar with these discourses, for they learn them from their parents and elders or from the "Dhamma school." The habit of listening to the recital of protective chants or sutras among Westerners is growing slowly and steadily.

The present writer, while on missions in America and European countries, has at the request of several residents there, recorded the recital of chants for their benefit and has mailed cassettes containing the recitals to those who sent him such cassettes.

Now, what does this book contain? It is a collection of 24 sutras or discourses almost all delivered by the Buddha and found scattered in the five original collections (nikáyas) in the Pali language, which form the Sutta Pitaka, the "Canonical Discourses."

These discourses are preceded by an enunciation of the Threefold Guidance, the Ten Precepts, and questions asked of a novice.

This collection of discourses has a less known title, Catu-bhánavára (Sinhalese Satara-banavara). A 13th century commentary to the collection -- written in Pali by a pupil of Ven. Rájaguru Vanaratana of Sri Lanka -- is available under the title Catu-bhánavára-atthakathá or Sárattha-samuccaya.

What is a bhánavára? It is a collection of sermons or discourses. Four such collections are called Catubhánavára.

As the teachers of old have said, a three-word line (pada) is made up of eight syllables (attha-akkhara), four such padas make a stanza or a gáthá. Thus stanzas consist of 32 syllables. Two hundred such stanzas are called a bhánavára, which consists of 8,000 syllables.

The Catubhánavára was compiled by the Great Elders (Mahá Theras), the teachers of yore (poránakácariyá) in Sri Lanka. That is what is known today among the Buddhists of Sri Lanka as the Pirit Potha or The Book of Protection.

It is customary for Buddhist monks, when they are invited to homes of lay Buddhists on occasions of domestic importance, such as birthdays, housewarmings, illnesses, and similar events to recite the three popular discourses mentioned above.

In the domestic and social life of the people of Sri Lanka a pirit ceremony is of great significance. No festival or function, religious or social, is complete without the recital of a protective chant.

On special occasions monks are invited to recite paritta suttas not for short periods but through the night or for three or seven days, and at times, for weeks.

On such occasions a pavilion (pirit manðapaya) is constructed for the purpose of accommodating the monks at the recital.

Before the commencement of the recital, Buddhists present at the ceremony make a formal invitation to the monks by reciting in Pali three stanzas that explain the purpose of the recital. (See Invitation below).

Then generally about 12 or 14 monks who have been invited will recite the three popular sutras. Thereafter a pair of monks will commence reciting the remaining sutras for two hours. Then they retire and are followed by another pair for another two hours.

Two monks must constantly be officiating. In this manner the recital lasts till dawn. While the recital continues, there will be found a pot of water placed on a table before the monks.

On this table there is also the sacred thread (pirit nula). For an all-night pirit ceremony, the casket containing a relic of the Buddha, and the Pirit Potha or The Book of Protection written on ola (talipot palm) leaves are also brought into the pavilion.

The relic represents the Buddha, the Pirit Potha represents the Dharma or the Teachings of the Buddha, and the reciting Monastic-Community represents the Noble (Enlightened/Ariyan) Sangha, the attained disciples of the Buddha from stream winners to arahants.

The thread is drawn around the interior of the pavilion, and its end twisted around the casket, the neck of the pot of water, and tied to the cord of the ola-leaf book.

While the special discourses are being recited, the monks hold the thread. The purpose is to maintain an unbroken communication from the water to the relic, to the Pirit Potha and to the officiating monks, (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the "Three Jewels" or Ti-ratana).

A ball of thread connected to the Three Jewels and the water is released and passed on to the listeners (seated on mats on the ground), who hold the thread while the recital goes on.

When the recital in Pali of the entire book is completed around dawn, the thread made sacred by the recital is cut into segments and distributed among the devotees, tied around their wrists or necks [like friendship bracelets].

At the same time the sanctified water is sprinkled on all. They may drink a little of it then sprinkled on their heads. These are to be regarded as symbols of the protective power of the paritta that was recited.

It is a spiritual service producing blessings, but it has psychological [and physcial] effects.

Dr. Bernard Grad of McGill University in Montreal painstakingly proved that if a psychic healer held water in a sealed flask and this water was later poured on barley seeds, the plants significantly outgrew untreated seeds.

But — and this is the intriguing part — if depressed psychiatric patients held the flasks of water, the growth of the seeds was retarded.

“Dr. Grad suggests that there appeared to be some ‘X factor’ or energy that flows from the human body to affect growth of plants and animals. A person’s mood affected this energy. This previously unacknowledged ‘energy’ has the widest implications for medical science, from healing to lab tests, Grad says” [1].

As experimentally discovered by Dr. Grad, mind can influence matter. If that is so, not much thinking is necessary to draw the logical inference that mind can also influence mind. Further, if the human mind can influence lower animals, then by a parity of reasoning the human mind can influence the minds of beings higher than animals [such as other humans and devas or "shining ones" of various orders]. More

CONTENTS

Preface v
Introductory Essay 1
The Book of Protection 1
The Value of Paritta 3

Introductory Chants

I. Árádhana (Invitation) 10–11
II. Deváradhana (Invitation to Deities) 10–11
III. Saranagamana (Going for Guidance) 10–11
IV. Dasasikkhápadáni (The Ten Training Precepts) 10–11
V. Samanerapañhá (Questions to be Answered by a Novice) 12–13
VI. Dvattiísákára (The Thirty-Two Parts of the Body) 12–13
VII. Paccavekkhaná (The Four-fold Reflection of a Monastic) 12–13

Discourses (Sutras)

1. Dasadhammasutta (Discourse on the Ten Dhammas) 14–15
2. Mahámangalasutta (Discourse on Blessings) 16–17
3. Ratanasutta (The Jewel Discourse) 18–19
4. Karanìyamettasutta (Discourse on Loving-Kindness) 24–25
5. Khandhaparitta (Protection of the Aggregates) 24–25
6. Mettánisaísasutta (Discourse on Advantages of Loving-Kindness) 26–27
7. Mittánisaísa (The Advantages of Friendship) 28–29
8. Moraparitta (The Peacock’s Prayer for Protection) 30–31
9. Candaparitta (The Moon Deity’s Prayer for Protection) 32–33
10. Suriyaparitta (The Sun Deity’s Prayer for Protection) 32–33
11. Dhajaggaparitta (Banner Protection) 34–35
12. Mahákassapattherabojjhaòga (Factors of Enlightenment) 38–39
13. Mahámoggallánattherabojjhaòga (Factors of Enlightenment) 40–41
14. Mahácundattherabojjhaòga (Factors of Enlightenment) 44–45
15. Girimánandasutta (Discourse to Girimánanda Thera) 46–47
16. Isigilisutta (The Discourse at Isigili) 54–55
17. Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Discourse on the Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Truth) 58–59
18. Mahásamayasutta (The Great Assembly) 64–65
19. Álavakasutta (Discourse to Álavaka) 76–77
20. Kasìbháradvájasutta (Discourse to Bháradvája, the Farmer) 80–81
21. Parábhavasutta (Discourse on Downfall) 84–85
22. Vasalasutta (Discourse on Outcasts) 88–89
23. Saccavibhangasutta (Discourse on the Analysis of the Truths) 94–95
24. Átánátiyasutta (Discourse on Átánátiyá) 104–105