The Uṇhissavijaya verses, said to ward off punishment, wild animals, poison and untimely death, and to lengthen life.
- When chanted
- Chanted for protection and for long life, particularly where untimely death is feared.
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
อุณ๎หิสสะวิชะยะ is the victory of the crown of the head. The verses belong to the protective literature rather than to the canon, and they are addressed to a deity rather than to a congregation.
They are among the chants most often written out and carried, which the text itself recommends.
Meaning and purpose
The claim is made at once and without qualification: there is the Uṇhissavijaya, a teaching unsurpassed in the world. Then the instruction — for the welfare of all beings, take it up, O deity.
What it wards off is listed concretely and the list is worth reading: royal punishment, non-human beings and fire, tigers, serpents, poison and spirits, and untimely death. Half of those are hazards of the road and the forest, and one of them is the state.
The closing verses name five ways of using it — writing it, reflecting on it, honouring it, bearing it in mind, reciting it with reverence — and add a sixth: hearing it taught to others. That a written copy is treated as equivalent to a recitation is what has kept these verses on amulets and cloth for centuries.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 237 →
page 237อัตถิ อุณ๎หิสสะ วิชะโย ธัมโม โลเก อะนุตตะโร
atthi uṇhissa vijayo dhammo loke anuttaro
There is the Uṇhissavijaya, a teaching unsurpassed in the world.
สัพพะสัตตะหิตัตถายะ ตัง ต๎วัง คัณหาหิ เทวะเต
sabbasattahitatthāya taṃ tvaṃ gaṇhāhi devate
For the welfare of all beings, take it up, O deity.
ปะริวัชเช ราชะทัณเฑ อะมะนุสเสหิ ปาวะเก
parivajje rājadaṇḍe amanussehi pāvake
It wards off royal punishment, non-human beings and fire,
พ๎ยัคเฆ นาเค วิเส ภูเต อะกาละมะระเณนะ วา
byagghe nāge vise bhūte akālamaraṇena vā
tigers, serpents, poison and spirits, and untimely death.
สัพพัส๎มา มะระณา มุตโต ฐะเปต๎วา กาละมาริตัง
sabbasmā maraṇā mutto ṭhapetvā kālamāritaṃ
One is freed from every death but the death that comes in its time.
ตัสเสวะ อานุภาเวนะ โหตุ เทโว สุขี สะทา
tasseva ānubhāvena hotu devo sukhī sadā
By the power of that very thing, may the deity be always happy.
สุทธะสีลัง สะมาทายะ ธัมมัง สุจะริตัง จะเร
suddhasīlaṃ samādāya dhammaṃ sucaritaṃ care
Undertaking pure virtue, let one walk the Dhamma well practised.
ตัสเสวะ อานุภาเวนะ โหตุ เทโว สุขี สะทา
tasseva ānubhāvena hotu devo sukhī sadā
By the power of that very thing, may the deity be always happy.
ลิกขิตัง จินติตัง ปูชัง ธาระณัง วาจะนัง คะรุง
likkhitaṃ cintitaṃ pūjaṃ dhāraṇaṃ vācanaṃ garuṃ
Writing it, reflecting on it, honouring it, bearing it in mind, reciting it with reverence,
ปะเรสัง เทสะนัง สุต๎วา ตัสสะ อายุ ปะวัฑฒะติ ฯ
paresaṃ desanaṃ sutvā tassa āyu pavaḍḍhati
and hearing it taught to others — that person's life increases.