When chanted

Chanted after the salutation at the opening of a paritta service.

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 its own reference for this passage. The words are those of the refuge everywhere else in the book, but the setting differs: here each of the nine statements is given its own line, where other printings group the three and mark the repetition at the end of each round.

It is a small typographic decision with an audible consequence.

Meaning and purpose

I go to the Buddha for refuge; to the Dhamma; to the Saṅgha. Then the same three a second time, and a third.

Setting each on its own line changes the pace rather than the sense. Nine separate statements take longer to say than three groups of three, and in a service meant to run for an hour or more that slowness is not incidental.

Why the refuge opens a protective chanting at all is worth asking, because everything that follows will be asking for safety. The tradition is careful about where safety is sought from, so it states the answer before making any of the requests.

The chant

As the book prints it: page 77 and page 78 →

page 77 page 78