Verses on the three characteristics, the few who cross to the far shore, the abandoning of the dark for the bright, and those wholly quenched in the world.
- Pali source
- ขุ.ขุ. 25/51
- When chanted
- Chanted among the daily reflections, and often as the Pali counterpart to the vernacular reflection on conditioned things.
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 title names the three characteristics first and then adds ādi, and others — the book is signalling that this is a compilation rather than a single passage. The opening three stanzas give the triple formula in its canonical verse form; what follows moves through several further subjects, each complete in itself.
This is the Pali of which บทพิจารณาสังขาร gives the opening in Thai. A reader working through the book will meet the same three lines twice: once glossed at length in the vernacular for reflection, and once here in metre for chanting. The footnote points to two places in the Khuddaka Nikāya.
The book prints no Thai rendering for this chant, so it stands at two of the five layers: the Pali as it is chanted, and a working English translation supplied for this edition rather than taken from the book.
Meaning and purpose
The first movement states each characteristic in turn and then repeats an identical refrain: when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering; this is the path to purity. The repetition is the point. Nothing is added by the second and third statements except the substitution of one word, and the reciter arrives three times at the same door.
The second movement changes the image to a crossing. Few among men reach the far shore; the rest of this generation runs up and down along the near bank. Those who follow the Dhamma in the Dhamma rightly declared are the ones who will cross beyond the realm of death, so very hard to cross. The verse offers no method here, only a division between those who go and those who circle.
The third movement gives the instruction. Abandoning the dark state, let the wise develop the bright; coming from home to homelessness, in seclusion where delight is hard to find. The Pali is candid about the difficulty — the place where one should seek delight is precisely the place where delight does not naturally arise. Having left sensual pleasures and owning nothing, one cleanses oneself of the defilements of mind.
The closing stanza describes the finished work rather than prescribing it. Those whose minds are rightly developed in the factors of awakening, who delight in the relinquishing of grasping without clinging, whose taints are destroyed and who are radiant — they are wholly quenched in the world. The verse ends not with an instruction but with a state, and the chant closes there.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 27 and page 28 →
สัพเพ สังขารา อะนิจจาติ ยะทา ปัญญายะ ปัสสะติ
sabbe saṅkhārā aniccāti yadā paññāya passati
All conditioned things are impermanent — when one sees this with wisdom,
อะถะ นิพพินทะติ ทุกเข เอสะ มัคโค วิสุทธิยา.
atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiyā.
then one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purity.
สัพเพ สังขารา ทุกขาติ ยะทา ปัญญายะ ปัสสะติ
sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhāti yadā paññāya passati
All conditioned things are suffering — when one sees this with wisdom,
อะถะ นิพพินทะติ ทุกเข เอสะ มัคโค วิสุทธิยา.
atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiyā.
then one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purity.
สัพเพ ธัมมา อะนัตตาติ ยะทา ปัญญายะ ปัสสะติ
sabbe dhammā anattāti yadā paññāya passati
All things are not-self — when one sees this with wisdom,
อะถะ นิพพินทะติ ทุกเข เอสะ มัคโค วิสุทธิยา.
atha nibbindati dukkhe esa maggo visuddhiyā.
then one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purity.
อัปปะกา เต มะนุสเสสุ เย ชะนา ปาระคามิโน
appakā te manussesu ye janā pāragāmino
Few are they among men, those people who go to the far shore;
อะถายัง อิตะรา ปะชา ตีระเมวานุธาวะติ.
athāyaṃ itarā pajā tīramevānudhāvati.
while the rest of this generation runs up and down along the near bank.
เย จะ โข สัมมะทักขาเต ธัมเม ธัมมานุวัตติโน
ye ca kho sammadakkhāte dhamme dhammānuvattino
But those who, in the Dhamma rightly declared, live in accordance with that Dhamma —
เต ชะนา ปาระเมสสันติ มัจจุเธยยัง สุทุตตะรัง.
te janā pāramessanti maccudheyyaṃ suduttaraṃ.
those people will reach the far shore, crossing the realm of death, so hard to cross.
กัณหัง ธัมมัง วิปปะหายะ สุกกัง ภาเวถะ ปัณฑิโต
kaṇhaṃ dhammaṃ vippahāya sukkaṃ bhāvetha paṇḍito
Abandoning the dark state, let the wise one develop the bright;
โอกา อะโนกะมาคัมมะ วิเวเก ยัตถะ ทูระมัง.
okā anokamāgamma viveke yattha dūramaṃ.
coming from home to homelessness, into seclusion, where delight is hard to find.
ตัตราภิระติมิจเฉยยะ หิต๎วา กาเม อะกิญจะโน
tatrābhiratimiccheyya hitvā kāme akiñcano
There let him seek his delight, having left sensual pleasures, owning nothing;
ปะริโยทะเปยยะ อัตตานัง จิตตักเลเสหิ ปัณฑิโต.
pariyodapeyya attānaṃ cittaklesehi paṇḍito.
let the wise one cleanse himself of the defilements of the mind.
เยสัง สัมโพธิยังเคสุ สัมมา จิตตัง สุภาวิตัง
yesaṃ sambodhiyaṅgesu sammā cittaṃ subhāvitaṃ
Those whose minds, in the factors of awakening, are rightly and well developed;
อาทานะปะฏินิสสัคเค อะนุปาทายะ เย ระตา
ādānapaṭinissagge anupādāya ye ratā
who in the relinquishing of grasping, without clinging, take delight —
ขีณาสะวา ชุติมันโต เต โลเก ปะรินิพพุตาติ.
khīṇāsavā jutimanto te loke parinibbutāti.
with taints destroyed, radiant, they are wholly quenched in the world.
ติลักขะณาทิคาถา นิฏฐิตา.
tilakkhaṇādigāthā niṭṭhitā.
Here end the Verses on the Three Characteristics and the rest.