Chanting › Mahākāruṇiko Nātho — the blessing chanted after the Jayamaṅgala Gāthā
Mahākāruṇiko Nātho — the blessing chanted after the Jayamaṅgala Gāthā
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Mahākāruṇiko Nātho — the blessing chanted after the Jayamaṅgala Gāthā

Mahākāruṇiko nātho

The blessing chanted straight after the Jayamaṅgala Gāthā, closing with the verse from the Supubbaṇha Sutta: the time you act well is itself the auspicious time.

When it is chanted

Almost always chanted straight after the Jayamaṅgala Gāthā (Bāhuṃ) — the pair is so fixed that Thai people name them together. It is used at ordinary auspicious occasions: weddings, house warmings, birthday merit-making, the opening of a shop, and blessings at home.

In a ceremony the monks chant it as a blessing for the hosts. The word te in the verses means 'to you', so it is spoken by the chanter to the listener. Chanting it yourself at home is fine too; it then reads as a wish for yourself and the people around you.

It is usually followed by Bhavatu Sabbamaṅgalaṃ, and then by the pouring of water to dedicate merit.

Note for the reviewer: in line 11 chanting books read paṇidhī te padakkhiṇā with a long ī, as used here, while the Thai royal edition of the canon in volume 20 has paṇidhi te padakkhiṇā, with a footnote giving paṇidhiyo in the European edition. In line 8 the same footnotes give suvuṭṭhitaṃ for suhuṭṭhitaṃ. In line 5 some books print evaṃ tavaṃ vijayo hohi without the conjunct mark under the t.

Background

This is not a sutta. It is a liturgical chant assembled from three separate sets of verses, and it reads best in those three parts.

The first three lines are a 'truth-statement' verse: a fact is stated and then invoked as a blessing. The fact here is that the Buddha fulfilled the perfections for the welfare of all living beings and reached awakening. The next four lines are the Jaya Paritta, recalling the awakening at the foot of the Bodhi tree on the seat no one could defeat, and wishing the listener a victory of the same kind. Both sections are later compositions; this wording is not found in the Tipiṭaka.

The last five lines, from sunakkhattaṃ sumaṅgalaṃ to the end, are the verse of the Supubbaṇha Sutta in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, volume 20, quoted as it stands in the canon. That sutta answers the question of auspicious timing directly: for anyone who acts well in body, speech and mind at a given time, that is their good morning, their good noon, their good evening. The word padakkhiṇa, repeated at the end, literally means keeping something on your right as you pass it — a gesture of respect — and from there it came to mean doing a thing the right way. So the verse does not name a lucky hour; it says what makes an hour a good one.

Pali

  1. Mahākāruṇiko nātho hitāya sabbapāṇinaṃ The protector, great in compassion, for the welfare of all that lives,
  2. Pūretvā pāramī sabbā patto sambodhimuttamaṃ having fulfilled every perfection, reached the highest awakening.
  3. Etena saccavajjena hotu te jayamaṅgalaṃ By the speaking of this truth, may the blessing of victory be yours.
  4. Jayanto bodhiyā mūle sakyānaṃ nandivaḍḍhano Victorious at the foot of the Bodhi tree, he brought gladness to the Sakyans.
  5. Evaṃ tvaṃ vijayo hohi jayassu jayamaṅgale May you be victorious in the same way; may you win what is truly auspicious.
  6. Aparājitapallaṅke sīse paṭhavipokkhare On the seat that cannot be defeated, on the highest ground of the earth,
  7. Abhiseke sabbabuddhānaṃ aggappatto pamodati where every Buddha is consecrated, he reached the summit and was glad.
  8. Sunakkhattaṃ sumaṅgalaṃ supabhātaṃ suhuṭṭhitaṃ That is the good sign, the good omen, the good dawn, the good waking,
  9. Sukhaṇo sumuhutto ca suyiṭṭhaṃ brahmacārisu the good moment, the good hour, the good offering to those who live the holy life.
  10. Padakkhiṇaṃ kāyakammaṃ vācākammaṃ padakkhiṇaṃ Bodily action then goes the right way, and speech goes the right way,
  11. Padakkhiṇaṃ manokammaṃ paṇidhī te padakkhiṇā thought goes the right way, and your intentions go the right way too.
  12. Padakkhiṇāni katvāna labhantatthe padakkhiṇe Having done what goes the right way, beings gain the good that comes of it.
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