The offering made on Māgha Pūjā, which commemorates the gathering of twelve hundred and fifty arahants who came unsummoned.
- When chanted
- Chanted on Māgha Pūjā while flowers, incense and candles are offered.
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 four festival offerings are built to one plan. Each opens with the same clauses — the Blessed One gone to for refuge, our teacher, in whose Dhamma we delight — then recounts what the day commemorates, and closes by asking that the offerings taken up be accepted, for our welfare and happiness for a long time to come.
Māgha is the third of the four, and alone among them it commemorates an assembly rather than an event in the Buddha's own life. What the day marks is a coincidence of four things at once, which the chant sets out one by one.
Meaning and purpose
The four conditions are given as a list and their force is cumulative. They were twelve hundred and fifty. All of them were arahants whose taints were destroyed. All of them had gone forth at the Buddha's own summons. And every one of them came without being called.
The setting is then fixed as precisely as a legal record: in the Bamboo Grove, at the squirrels' feeding place, on the Māgha full moon, as the shadows were lengthening. The chant is more interested in when and where than in what was felt about it.
What makes the day worth an offering is the last of the four conditions rather than the first. A large gathering can be arranged and an accomplished one can be selected; a gathering that assembles without being summoned cannot. That is what is being marked, and the exhortation the Buddha gave them is printed a few pages further on.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 71 →
อัชชายัง,
Ajjāyaṃ,
Today,
มาฆะปุณณะมี สัมปัตตา,
Māghapuṇṇamī sampattā,
the Māgha full moon has come round,
มาฆะนักขัตเตนะ ปุณณะจันโท ยุตโต,
Māghanakkhattena puṇṇacando yutto,
the full moon joined with the Māgha asterism —
ยัตถะ ตะถาคะโต,
Yattha tathāgato,
the day on which the Tathāgata,
อะระหัง สัมมาสัมพุทโธ,
Arahaṃ sammāsambuddho,
worthy, fully enlightened by himself,
จาตุรังคิเก สาวะกะสันนิปาเต,
Cāturaṅgike sāvakasannipāte,
at an assembly of disciples possessing four factors,
โอวาทะปาฏิโมกขัง อุททิสิ.
Ovādapāṭimokkhaṃ uddisi.
set forth the Ovāda-pāṭimokkha.
ตะทา หิ อัฑฒะเตระสานิ,
Tadā hi aḍḍhaterasāni,
For on that day there were twelve hundred and fifty,
สัพเพสังเยวะ ขีณาสะวานัง,
Sabbesaṃyeva khīṇāsavānaṃ,
all of them arahants whose taints were destroyed,
สัพเพเต เอหิภิกขุกา,
Sabbete ehibhikkhukā,
all of them gone forth at the Buddha's own 'Come, bhikkhu',
สัพเพปิ เต อะนามันติตาวะ.
Sabbepi te anāmantitāva.
and every one of them come without being summoned.
ภะคะวะโต สันติกัง อาคะตา,
Bhagavato santikaṃ āgatā,
They had come into the presence of the Blessed One
เวฬุวะเน กะลันทะกะนิวาเป,
Veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe,
in the Bamboo Grove, at the squirrels' feeding place,
มาฆะปุณณะมิยัง วัฑฒะมานะกัจฉายายะ,
Māghapuṇṇamiyaṃ vaḍḍhamānakacchāyāya,
on the Māgha full moon, as the shadows were lengthening,
ตัส๎มิง สันนิปาเต ภะคะวา วิสุทธุโปสะถัง อะกาสิ,
Tasmiṃ sannipāte bhagavā visuddhuposathaṃ akāsi,
and at that assembly the Blessed One held the pure Uposatha,
อะยัง อัมหากัง ภะคะวะโต เอโกเยวะ สาวะกะสันนิปาโต อะโหสิ.
Ayaṃ amhākaṃ bhagavato ekoyeva sāvakasannipāto ahosi.
and this was the one and only such assembly of our Blessed One's disciples.
จาตุรังคิโก อัฑฒะเตระสานิ ภิกขุสะตานิ,
Cāturaṅgiko aḍḍhaterasāni bhikkhusatāni,
Possessed of four factors: twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus,
สัพเพสังเยวะ ขีณาสะวานัง,
Sabbesaṃyeva khīṇāsavānaṃ,
all of them arahants whose taints were destroyed.
มะยันทานิ อิมัง มาฆะปุณณะมีนักขัตตะสะมายัง,
Mayandāni imaṃ māghapuṇṇamīnakkhattasamayaṃ,
We now, at this season of the Māgha full-moon asterism,
ตักกาละสะทิสัง สัมปัตตา,
Takkālasadisaṃ sampattā,
having come to a time like that time,
สุจิระปะรินิพพุตัมปิ ตัง ภะคะวันตัง อะนุสสะระมานา อิมัส๎มิง ตัสสะ ภะคะวะโต,
Suciraparinibbutampi taṃ bhagavantaṃ anussaramānā imasmiṃ tassa bhagavato,
recollecting that Blessed One though he has long since gone to final nibbāna, here at that Blessed One's
สักขิภูเต เจติเย อิเมหิ ทีปะธูปะปุปผาทิสักกาเรหิ ตัง ภะคะวันตัง,
Sakkhibhūte cetiye imehi dīpadhūpapupphādisakkārehi taṃ bhagavantaṃ,
shrine that stands witness to him, with these offerings of lamps, incense, flowers and the rest, to that Blessed One
ตานิ จะ อัฑฒะเตระสานิ ภิกขุสะตานิ อะภิปูชะยามะ,
Tāni ca aḍḍhaterasāni bhikkhusatāni abhipūjayāma,
and to those twelve hundred and fifty bhikkhus we make our offering.
สาธุ โน ภันเต ภะคะวา,
Sādhu no bhante bhagavā,
It would be well, venerable Blessed One,
สะสาวะกะสังโฆ สุจิระปะรินิพพุโต,
Sasāvakasaṅgho suciraparinibbuto,
who with your community of disciples went long since to final nibbāna,
คุเณหิ ธะระมาโน,
Guṇehi dharamāno,
and who yet endure by your qualities,
อิเม สักกาเร ทุคคะตะปัณณาการะภูเต ปะฏิคคัณหาตุ,
Ime sakkāre duggatapaṇṇākārabhūte paṭiggaṇhātu,
if you would accept these offerings, poor gifts as they are,
อัมหากัง ทีฆะรัตตัง หิตายะ สุขายะ.
Amhākaṃ dīgharattaṃ hitāya sukhāya.
for our welfare and happiness for a long time to come.