Praise of the Dhamma by the six qualities traditionally recollected of it, closing with an offering and a bow.
- When chanted
- Chanted in the morning service, second of the three praises given in turn to the Buddha, the Dhamma and 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
The book prints no title above this chant. The name used here is taken from the word ธัมมาภิถุติง in its own invitation line, and title_thai and title_pali are left empty rather than invented.
It is the middle panel of a set of three, and the three are built to the same plan: โย โส, that one which, followed by the qualities, and closing on ตะมะหัง — to that I make offering, to that I bow my head. Read alone it looks abrupt at three verses; read in place it is one third of a single movement, and its brevity is what sets off the nine clauses given to the Buddha.
The qualities themselves are the standard recollection of the Dhamma and recur widely in the canon; what is composed here is their setting as praise. No Thai rendering is printed, so the chant stands at the Pali and an English translation written for this edition.
Meaning and purpose
Six qualities are named, and they describe the teaching by what can be done with it rather than by what it asserts. สันทิฏฐิโก, visible here and now — its results are met in this life, not in a report about another. อะกาลิโก, timeless, not waiting on a season or an age. เอหิปัสสิโก, inviting all to come and see, which is an unusual thing for a teaching to say of itself. โอปะนะยิโก, leading onwards, taking whoever follows it somewhere.
The sixth is the one the others rest on: ปัจจัตตัง เวทิตัพโพ วิญญูหิ, to be known each for himself by the wise. The knowledge is not transferable. Nobody can hold it on another's behalf, which is why the list ends there, and why an assembly can chant this together without any of them speaking for the rest.
That is also why it is still recited. The verse is not information about the Dhamma — an assembly chanting it daily knows the six words already. It is a description read back over one's own practice, and each recitation is an occasion to ask whether what is being practised still answers to it.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 2 and page 3 →
หันทะ มะยัง ธัมมาภิถุติง กะโรมะ เส.
Handa mayaṃ dhammābhithutiṃ karoma se.
Now let us give praise to the Dhamma.
โย โส ส๎วากขาโต ภะคะวะตา ธัมโม, สันทิฏฐิโก อะกาลิโก เอหิปัสสิโก โอปะนะยิโก,
Yo so svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo, sandiṭṭhiko akāliko ehipassiko opanayiko,
That Dhamma, well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now, timeless, inviting all to come and see, leading onwards,
ปัจจัตตัง เวทิตัพโพ วิญญูหิ,
Paccattaṃ veditabbo viññūhi,
to be known each for himself by the wise,
ตะมะหัง ธัมมัง อะภิปูชะยามิ, ตะมะหัง ธัมมัง สิระสา นะมามิ.
Tamahaṃ dhammaṃ abhipūjayāmi, tamahaṃ dhammaṃ sirasā namāmi.
to that Dhamma I make offering; to that Dhamma I bow my head.