The prefatory verse to the peacock's paritta, on the Great Being whom hunters could never catch.
- When chanted
- Chanted immediately before the Mora Paritta, 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
Born in the womb of a peacock while fulfilling the requisites of awakening — the verse places the story in the same series as the elephant of the chant before it. Both are the Buddha in an earlier birth, in animal form.
It is the second of three consecutive parittas attributed to an animal, which is a distinctive feature of this part of the collection.
Meaning and purpose
The claim is empirical in form: the forest-dwellers, though they strove for a long while, were never able to catch him. The proof offered is a record of failed attempts rather than an assertion of power.
What did the protecting is named carefully — the Great Being whose protection was arranged by it. The paritta is the arrangement, not the peacock, and the verse is precise about which of the two the chanters are being offered.
It is then called พ๎รัห๎มะมันตันติ, declared to be a Brahma-spell, before the handover. That is an old and frank word for what a paritta is, and this collection does not avoid it.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 88 →
page 88ปูเรนตัมโพธิสัมภาเร นิพพัตตัง โมระโยนิยัง
Pūrentambodhisambhāre nibbattaṃ morayoniyaṃ
Born in the womb of a peacock while fulfilling the requisites of awakening,
เยนะ สังวิหิตารักขัง มะหาสัตตัง วะเนจะรา
Yena saṃvihitārakkhaṃ mahāsattaṃ vanecarā
the Great Being, whose protection was arranged by it, the forest-dwellers
จิรัสสัง วายะมันตาปิ เนวะ สักขิงสุ คัณหิตุง
Cirassaṃ vāyamantāpi neva sakkhiṃsu gaṇhituṃ
though they strove for a long while, were never able to catch;
พ๎รัห๎มะมันตันติ อักขาตัง ปะริตตันตัมภะณามะ เห.
Brahmamantanti akkhātaṃ parittantambhaṇāma he.
declared to be a Brahma-spell: that paritta let us now recite.