A list in Thai of the ten routine duties of a monk, from attending the uposatha to reflecting on the requisites.
- When chanted
- Read and memorised rather than chanted; printed among the practical material at the back of the book.
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
กิจวัตร are the things done as a matter of course — the routine rather than the rule. This is one of the few entries in the book with no Pali at all: it is a plain Thai list.
Its presence among the chants says something about what this book is for. It is not only a service book but a handbook for someone living the life, and this page is closer to a checklist than to a liturgy.
Meaning and purpose
The ten are strikingly ordinary and are not arranged by importance. Attending the uposatha and going on almsround sit alongside sweeping the monastery courtyard, caring for one's robes, shaving the head, trimming the beard and cutting the nails.
Two of the ten are of a different kind and are easy to miss in the list: undergoing probation when it is required, and studying the training rules while attending upon one's teacher. Both concern being answerable to somebody, which the other eight do not.
The closing line says how the list is to be used, and it is firmer than the contents suggest: these ten duties are matters of weight; a monk should study them until he knows them clearly and holds them in mind. Sweeping a courtyard is given the same standing as attending the uposatha, and the instruction is to learn the list by heart.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 304 →
page 304ลงอุโบสถ
Attending the uposatha
บิณฑบาตเลี้ยงชีพ
Going on almsround for one's livelihood
สวดมนต์ไหว้พระ
Chanting and paying homage
กวาดอาวาสวิหารลานพระเจดีย์
Sweeping the monastery, the hall and the courtyard of the stupa
รักษาผ้าครอง
Caring for the robes one wears
อยู่ปริวาสกรรม
Undergoing probation when it is required
โกนผมปลงหนวดตัดเล็บ
Shaving the head, trimming the beard and cutting the nails
ศึกษาสิกขาบทและปฏิบัติพระอาจารย์
Studying the training rules and attending upon one's teacher
เทศนาบัติ(แสดงอาบัติ)
Declaring offences (confessing an offence)
พิจารณาปัจจะเวกขะณะทั้ง 4 เป็นต้น
Reflecting on the four requisites, and so on
กิจวัตร 10 เหล่านี้เป็นกิจใหญ่ควรที่ภิกษุจะต้องศึกษาให้ทราบความชัดและจำไว้เพื่อปฏิบัติสมควรแก่สมณสารูปแห่งตน.
These ten duties are matters of weight. A monk should study them until he knows them clearly and holds them in mind, so as to practise in a way befitting his state as a recluse.