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Requesting a Dhamma talk
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Requesting a Dhamma talk

Dhammadesanāyācanā

The formula for asking a monk to give a Dhamma talk, recalling how Brahmā Sahampati asked the Buddha to teach.

When it is chanted

Said just before a monk begins a talk — at a ceremony at home, at a temple, or on an observance day — spoken by someone on behalf of the listeners.

Once it is said, the listeners settle and pay attention, since the point of the formula is a request, and a request is only complete if the asker actually listens.

At a small or informal gathering it can simply be left out; nothing is broken by doing so.

Background

After his awakening, the Buddha reflected that what he had understood was deep and ran against the grain of ordinary habit, and he hesitated to teach. The episode is recorded in the Mahāvagga of the Vinaya, volume 4.

The text says that Brahmā Sahampati, knowing this, came before him, raised his hands and asked him to teach, because there were beings with little dust in their eyes who would be lost without hearing it, and who would understand if they did.

The four-line verse used in ceremonies is a later composition summarising that scene rather than a canonical text, but its sense matches the sutta: please teach, out of compassion for those who are listening.

Pali

  1. Brahmā ca lokādhipatī sahampati Brahmā Sahampati, lord of the world,
  2. Katañjalī anadhivaraṃ ayācatha with hands raised, asked the unsurpassed one:
  3. Santīdha sattāpparajakkhajātikā there are beings here with little dust in their eyes —
  4. Desetu dhammaṃ anukampimaṃ pajaṃ please teach the Dhamma, out of compassion for them.
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