The prefatory verse to the quail's paritta, on the forest fire that turned aside from a helpless chick.
- When chanted
- Chanted immediately before the Vaṭṭaka 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
The third of the three animal parittas, and the verse places it in the same series: born as a quail while fulfilling the requisites of awakening.
It adds one detail the other two do not — who told the story. It was spoken by the Refuge of the World to the elder Sāriputta, so the chant comes with an attribution built into its introduction.
Meaning and purpose
The event is given in a single line and needs no elaboration: by whose power the forest fire turned aside from the Great Being. A fire changed course.
The claim made for it afterwards is the largest in this section — กัปปัฏฐายิ, lasting an aeon, and of great power. The protection is said to persist not for the chanting or for the day but for an age.
Set against the chant it introduces, that claim is deliberately out of proportion to its occasion. What follows is a small bird that cannot fly or walk, and the verse has just said the consequence lasts an aeon.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 89 →
page 89ปูเรนตัมโพธิสัมภาเร นิพพัตตัง วัฏฏะชาติยัง,
Pūrentambodhisambhāre nibbattaṃ vaṭṭajātiyaṃ,
Born as a quail while fulfilling the requisites of awakening,
ยัสสะ เตเชนะ ทาวัคคิ มะหาสัตตัง วิวัชชะยิ,
Yassa tejena dāvaggi mahāsattaṃ vivajjayi,
by whose power the forest fire turned aside from the Great Being;
เถรัสสะ สารีปุตตัสสะ โลกะนาเถนะ ภาสิตัง,
Therassa sāriputtassa lokanāthena bhāsitaṃ,
spoken by the Refuge of the World to the elder Sāriputta,
กัปปัฏฐายิ มะหาเตชัง ปะริตตันตัมภะณามะ เห.
Kappaṭṭhāyi mahātejaṃ parittantambhaṇāma he.
lasting an aeon and of great power: that paritta let us now recite.