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
APPENDIX
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