The prefatory verse to the Dhajagga Sutta, on the recollection that gives a footing to those with nothing to stand on.
- When chanted
- Chanted immediately before the Dhajagga Sutta, introducing it.
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
The image it opens with is the one the sutta is remembered for, and it is unusually vivid for an introduction: by the mere recollection of which even creatures in mid-air always find a footing, as though upon the ground.
A footing in mid-air is a precise description of what the sutta offers. It is chanted where somebody has nothing solid under them.
Meaning and purpose
The claim is made twice over, in two registers. First the impossible-sounding one about creatures in the air; then a plain one — from the net of all misfortunes arising from yakkhas, thieves and the like, those freed are beyond counting.
The second is offered as evidence for the first, and its form is worth noticing: not a promise about what will happen, but a claim about how many people it has already happened to.
อนุสสะรณะ, the mere recollection, is the operative word. What the introduction promises is not from chanting the words but from calling something to mind, and the sutta that follows is entirely about what to call to mind and why.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 90 →
page 90ยัสสานุสสะระเณนาปิ อันตะลิกเขปิ ปาณิโน,
Yassānussaraṇenāpi antalikkhepi pāṇino,
By the mere recollection of which even creatures in mid-air
ปะติฏฐะมะธิคัจฉันติ ภูมิยัง วิยะ สัพพะทา,
Patiṭṭhamadhigacchanti bhūmiyaṃ viya sabbadā,
always find a footing, as though upon the ground;
สัพพูปัททะวะชาลัมหา ยักขะโจราทิสัมภะวา,
Sabbūpaddavajālamhā yakkhacorādisambhavā,
and from the net of all misfortunes arising from yakkhas, thieves and the like,
คะณะนา นะ จะ มุตตานัง ปะริตตันตัมภะณามะ เห.
Gaṇanā na ca muttānaṃ parittantambhaṇāma he.
those freed are beyond counting: that paritta let us now recite.