Daily chants
Requesting and undertaking the five precepts
PañcasīlasamādānaṃThe request for the precepts from a monk, followed by the undertaking of the five training rules one by one — …
Daily chants
The Jinapañjara verses
Jinapañjaragāthā
An old Thai composition, not part of the Tipiṭaka, which places the Buddhas and the great disciples around the body as a way of calling their qualities to mind.
When it is chanted
Commonly chanted in the morning after the daily chanting or before leaving the house, and at night to settle the mind.
Some people chant it before something they are anxious about — an exam, an operation, a long journey. What it gives is a steadier mind from recollecting what is wholesome; it is not a guarantee that nothing will go wrong, and it is not a substitute for medical care or ordinary preparation.
Background
The Jinapañjara is not part of the Tipiṭaka. It is a Pali composition written later, and the version Thai people know is attributed to Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To Phrommarangsi), who arranged or revised it in the early Bangkok period. He died in 1872, so the text is old and freely used.
The title means the cage or enclosure of the Victors. The picture it paints is of the chanter seated inside a circle of the twenty-eight Buddhas of the past and the eighty great disciples, each invited to take a place around the body, with the major parittas — the Ratana, Metta, Dhajagga, Aṅgulimāla, Khandha, Mora and Āṭānāṭiya — forming a wall around the whole.
In substance it is a review of who and what one holds in mind. Picturing oneself surrounded by teachers keeps the mind from scattering and makes it harder to shake. The effect is on the chanter's own mind — which is what the Dhajagga Sutta describes when it says that recollecting the Triple Gem makes fear fade.
Pali
- Jayāsanāgatā buddhā jetvā māraṃ savāhanaṃ The Buddhas who came to the seat of victory, having defeated Māra and his mount,
- Catusaccāsabhaṃ rasaṃ ye piviṃsu narāsabhā those great among people, drank the noble taste of the four truths.
- Taṇhaṅkarādayo buddhā aṭṭhavīsati nāyakā The twenty-eight Buddhas beginning with Taṇhaṅkara, the leaders,
- Sabbe patiṭṭhitā mayhaṃ matthake te munissarā may all those great sages be established above my head.
- Sīse patiṭṭhito mayhaṃ buddho dhammo davilocane May the Buddha be established at my head, the Dhamma at both my eyes,
- Saṅgho patiṭṭhito mayhaṃ ure sabbaguṇākaro and the Saṅgha, the source of every good quality, at my chest.
- Hadaye me anuruddho sārīputto ca dakkhiṇe May Anuruddha be at my heart, Sāriputta on my right,
- Koṇḍañño piṭṭhibhāgasmiṃ moggallāno ca vāmake Koṇḍañña behind me, and Moggallāna on my left.
- Dakkhiṇe savane mayhaṃ āsuṃ ānandarāhulo May Ānanda and Rāhula be at my right ear,
- Kassapo ca mahānāmo ubhāsuṃ vāmasotake and Kassapa and Mahānāma both at my left ear.
- Kesante piṭṭhibhāgasmiṃ suriyo va pabhaṅkaro At the back of my head, radiant as the shining sun,
- Nisinno sirisampanno sobhito munipuṅgavo may Sobhita, foremost among sages, endowed with splendour, be seated.
- Kumārakassapo thero mahesī cittavādako May the elder Kumārakassapa, seeker of the great, eloquent of speech,
- So mayhaṃ vadane niccaṃ patiṭṭhāsi guṇākaro a source of good qualities, be established always at my mouth.
- Puṇṇo aṅgulimālo ca upālīnandasīvalī May Puṇṇa, Aṅgulimāla, Upāli, Nanda and Sīvalī,
- Therā pañca ime jātā nalāṭe tilakā mama these five elders, appear as a mark upon my forehead.
- Sesāsīti mahātherā vijitā jinasāvakā The remaining eighty great elders, victorious, disciples of the Victor,
- Etesīti mahātherā jitavanto jinorasā those eighty great elders, conquerors, sons of the Victor,
- Jalantā sīlatejena aṅgamaṅgesu saṇṭhitā blazing with the power of virtue, may they be established in every part of my body.
- Ratanaṃ purato āsi dakkhiṇe mettasuttakaṃ May the Ratana Sutta be in front, the Metta Sutta on the right,
- Dhajaggaṃ pacchato āsi vāme aṅgulimālakaṃ the Dhajagga behind, and the Aṅgulimāla on the left.
- Khandhamoraparittañca āṭānāṭiyasuttakaṃ May the Khandha and Mora parittas and the Āṭānāṭiya Sutta
- Ākāse chadanaṃ āsi sesā pākārasaṇṭhitā be a canopy above, and the rest stand as a surrounding wall.
- Jinā nānāvarasaṃyuttā sattappākāralaṅkatā May the Victors, endowed with many excellent qualities, adorned with a sevenfold wall,
- Vātapittādisañjātā bāhirajjhattupaddavā and all troubles outer and inner, arising from wind, from bile and from other causes,
- Asesā vinayaṃ yantu anantajinatejasā come to an end without remainder, by the power of the boundless Victor,
- Vasato me sakiccena sadā sambuddhapañjare for me, living out my own duties, always within the enclosure of the Awakened One.
- Jinapañjaramajjhamhi viharantaṃ mahītale As I dwell here on the earth, in the midst of the Victor's enclosure,
- Sadā pālentu maṃ sabbe te mahāpurisāsabhā may all those great and noble beings protect me always.
- Iccevamanto sugutto surakkho Thus I am well guarded, well protected,
- Jinānubhāvena jitupaddavo having overcome trouble by the power of the Buddha,
- Dhammānubhāvena jitārisaṅgho having overcome the ranks of enemies by the power of the Dhamma,
- Saṅghānubhāvena jitantarāyo having overcome obstacles by the power of the Saṅgha.
- Saddhammānubhāvapālito carāmi jinapañjareti Guarded by the power of the true Dhamma, may I live within the enclosure of the Victor.
Where it comes from in the Tipiṭaka
Click to read the actual page it refers to
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