When chanted

Chanted in the Seven Tamnan, and used as a protection against snakes and venomous creatures.

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 Seven Tamnan is the shorter of the two great paritta collections. Its texts are the same as those of the Twelve Tamnan; what differs is which are included and how far each is cut, and the book's three running orders shorten them further again.

This printing opens differently from the page-87 one. Where that began by extending loving-kindness to the snake families by name, this begins with a statement about measure.

Meaning and purpose

Measureless is the Buddha, measureless is the Dhamma, measureless is the Sangha — and set against them, the creeping things are measurable. The protection is argued from a difference of scale before any kindness is offered.

The extension of loving-kindness follows, and its method is worth stating plainly because it is not what a protective charm usually does. Nothing is commanded and nothing repelled. Metta is declared, and the safety is said to follow from the declaring.

It closes as the fuller printing does, with homage to the Blessed One and to the seven Perfectly Self-Awakened Ones. Having spent itself on snakes, it ends where every chant in this collection ends.

The chant

As the book prints it: page 169 →

page 169