Verses on confidence in the highest, and on what grows for those who give to the highest.
- When chanted
- Chanted in the anumodanā after a gift, particularly where an offering has been made to the Sangha.
A note on this chant. The book prints this chant in Pali only, with no Thai translation. The English here is a working translation prepared for this edition — it is not the book's own, and has not yet been checked by a teacher.
Historical background
อัคคะปปะสาทะ is confidence in the highest, and the verses are the closing part of the discourse of that name, which the book prints in full elsewhere.
They belong to the anumodanā material — the verses chanted after a gift, to give the donors something true to take away.
Meaning and purpose
The argument is built on a single repeated word. Confidence in the highest; the Buddha as the highest, unsurpassed and worthy of offerings; the Dhamma as the highest, the bliss of dispassion and peace; the Sangha as the highest, the unsurpassed field of merit.
Then the conclusion drawn from it: for those giving a gift to the highest, the highest merit grows. The reasoning is proportional — what is given to the best yields the best.
What that yields is then listed without any spiritualising: the highest life span and beauty, fame, repute, happiness and strength. Chanted over people who have just paid for a meal, the verses tell them plainly what the tradition says they have bought.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 273 →
page 273อัคคะโต เว ปะสันนานัง อัคคัง ธัมมัง วิชานะตัง
Aggato ve pasannānaṃ aggaṃ dhammaṃ vijānataṃ
For those confident in the highest, knowing the highest Dhamma,
อัคเค พุทเธ ปะสันนานัง ทักขิเณยเย อะนุตตะเร
Agge buddhe pasannānaṃ dakkhiṇeyye anuttare
confident in the highest, the Buddha, unsurpassed and worthy of offerings;
อัคเค ธัมเม ปะสันนานัง วิราคูปะสะเม สุเข
Agge dhamme pasannānaṃ virāgūpasame sukhe
confident in the highest Dhamma, the bliss of dispassion and peace;
อัคเค สังเฆ ปะสันนานัง ปุญญักเขตเต อะนุตตะเร
Agge saṅghe pasannānaṃ puññakkhette anuttare
confident in the highest Saṅgha, the unsurpassed field of merit —
อัคคัส๎มิง ทานัง ทะทะตัง อัคคัง ปุญญัง ปะวัฑฒะติ
Aggasmiṃ dānaṃ dadataṃ aggaṃ puññaṃ pavaḍḍhati
for those giving a gift to the highest, the highest merit grows:
อัคคัง อายุ จะ วัณโณ จะ ยะโส กิตติ สุขัง พะลัง
Aggaṃ āyu ca vaṇṇo ca yaso kitti sukhaṃ balaṃ
the highest life span and beauty, fame, repute, happiness and strength.
อัคคัสสะ ทาตา เมธาวี อัคคะธัมมะสะมาหิโต
Aggassa dātā medhāvī aggadhammasamāhito
The wise giver to the highest, composed in the highest Dhamma,
เทวะภูโต มะนุสโส วา อัคคัปปัตโต ปะโมทะตีติ.
Devabhūto manusso vā aggappatto pamodatīti.
whether become a deva or a human, rejoices, having attained the highest.