Paritta · Lablypedia

History and Uses

Early References

In the Pali literature, these short verses are recommended by the Buddha as providing protection from certain afflictions. The belief in the effective power to heal, or protect, of the sacca-kiriya, or asseveration of something quite true, is an aspect of the work ascribed to the paritta. The Mahavamsa contains the earliest historical reference to this practice, describing how Upatissa I of Anuradhapura instructed monks to recite the Ratana Sutta through the night during a period when Sri Lanka was afflicted by plague and disease.

Ritual and Protective Functions

It is widely believed that all-night recitations of paritta by monks bring safety, peace and well-being to a community. Such recitations also occur on auspicious occasions, such as the inauguration of a new temple or home, or to provide blessings upon those who hear. Conversely, paritta discourses are recited on inauspicious occasions as well, such as at a funeral or on the death anniversary of a loved one. They may also be recited to placate antagonistic spirits.

Sri Lankan Pirit Tradition

In Sri Lanka, monks highly skilled in Pirit chanting are referred to as Parittabhāṇakas. Unlike the older bhāṇaka traditions of the Theravāda—such as Sutta Bhāṇakas, Vinaya Bhāṇakas, and Abhidhamma Bhāṇakas, which have long disappeared—the Parittabhāṇaka lineage remains active across all three Nikāyas. This makes it the only surviving bhāṇaka system in Sri Lanka, where monks are still formally recognized for their chanting ability. Additional honorary titles, such as sarabhañña (melodious voice) and pravacanakīrti śrī (well-versed in the Buddha’s word), are sometimes conferred alongside it.

Esoteric influences

Many ritual elements found in Sri Lanka’s Pirit tradition can be traced back to descriptions in the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī. The Sūtra instructs practitioners to prepare the chanting site with sand, flowers, and grasses, and prescribes the recitation of the dhāraṇī either 21 times or 1000 times. These details resonate with present customs in Sri Lanka, where monks spread a mixture of jasmine flowers, mustard seeds, and popped rice within the pirit maṇḍapa while chanting. The practice of laying īṭaṇa grass (Andropogon contortus) on the floor, as well as hanging tender leaves such as betel, banyan, and ironwood, reflects the Sūtra’s guidance to use sacred grasses for purity. Similarly, the protective use of blessed sand to drive away misfortune and malevolent forces continues the text’s emphasis on sanctifying the space of recitation.

Numerical patterns in recitation also highlight Tantric influence. In Sri Lanka, it is common to chant certain parittas a set number of times—often 7 or 21 repetitions, with the Aṅgulimāla Paritta (used for protecting expectant mothers) traditionally recited exactly 21 times. Larger-scale recitations of texts such as the Ratana Sutta may be performed 1000 or even 100,000 times. The significance of the number 21 in particular echoes practices described in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: when presenting the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī to Emperor Taizong, the monk Amoghavajra instructed him to carry it and have monks and nuns recite it 21 times daily, with annual reports of their totals. Śubhakarasiṃha’s ritual manual also prescribes twenty-onefold recitations for most purposes, underscoring the symbolic importance of this number in Tantric practice.

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Discourse types

There are several paritta verses that are identified as such within the Pali Canon.

Reverential

Most paritta involve offering praise to the Buddha or, more broadly, the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha). Of these paritta, one of the best known is the Ratana Sutta (Sn 2.1) where, for instance, it states in part:

Whatever treasure there be either here or in the world beyond, whatever precious jewel there be in the heavenly worlds, there is nought comparable to the Tathagata (the Perfect One). This precious jewel is the Buddha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.

Aid seeking

A few paritta involve the asking directly for the aid of the Buddha. Examples of this type of paritta verse can be seen in the Candima Sutta (SN 2.9) and Suriya Sutta (SN 2.10) of the Samyutta Nikaya. In these two scriptures, the deities Canda and Surya protect themselves from the attack of the eclipse deity Rahu by reciting short verses praising the Buddha and pleading for his protection:

"O Buddha, the Hero, thou art wholly free from all evil. My adoration to thee. I have fallen into distress. Be thou my refuge."

In these cases, the Buddha is shown as specifically hearing and responding to the paritta; he enjoins Rahu to release the captive deities rather than have his "head split into seven pieces".

Blessing

Another type of paritta relies on the virtue of the individual who is ascribed as reciting the paritta in the Canon, rather than making reference to the virtues of the Buddha. This type of paritta can be seen in the Angulimala Sutta, the story of the murderer-turned-monk Angulimala. On passing a pregnant woman experiencing a difficult labor, Angulimala is moved to provide assistance. Asking the Buddha how he can help, the Buddha tells him to provide a sort of blessing to the woman by reciting a short verse proclaiming his own virtue:

Sister, since I was born in the noble birth, I do not recall intentionally killing a living being. Through this truth may there be wellbeing for you, wellbeing for your fetus.

This verse is now used as a blessing for expectant mothers in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

Forms of expression

The Buddha and the arahants (the Consummate Ones) can concentrate on the paritta suttas without the aid of another. However, when they are ill, it is easier for them to listen to what others recite, and thus focus their minds on the dhamma that the suttas contain, rather than think of the dhamma by themselves. There are occasions, as in the case of illness, which weaken the mind (in the case of worldlings), when hetero-suggestion has been found to be more effective than autosuggestion. In the Gilana Sutta, even the Buddha Himself had the Seven Factors of Enlightenment recited to him by another monk to recover from a grave illness.

While paritta texts generally are recited aloud, other mediums are known as well. In Thailand, paritta texts are printed on small pieces of cloth containing images of the Buddha or famous monks. Similar text—often in the Khom Thai script—is sometimes incorporated into tattoos believed to have protective powers, known as Sak Yant.

Collections

Paritta discourses are widely used and known, even if not necessarily understood, throughout the Theravada Buddhist world. Popular collections of paritta verses are among the most widely known Pali texts in many Theravada countries. Translations of Paritta texts have not proven to be particularly popular—they are often little easier to understand than the Pali texts themselves, and in popular belief it is not necessary to understand the recitation for it to be effective. Different Theravada regions have developed distinct sets of paritta repertoires.

Myanmar (Burma)

In Myanmar, the most popular paritta collection is called Mahāparitta (lit. 'Great Protection'), which comprises eleven texts, with eight derived from the Milindapañha and commentarial lists. The second is the called the Sīrimaṅgala-paritta, which was compiled by Prime Minister U Nu's Sīrimaṅgala Paritta Association in 1950. This collection consists of thirty-one texts, including eleven from Mahāparitta, and another twenty, including the Buddha's first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), a synopsis of the twenty-four conditions in the Paṭṭhāna, the seventh book of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which provides the textual basis for vipassanā meditation. The Paṭṭhāna is the single most popular paritta in Myanmar. Now follows the Mahāparitta collection and canonical sources by Ven Dr. Silananda Bhivamsa

Sri Lanka

The preferred paritta repertoire in Sri Lanka is known in Sinhala as the Pirit Potha ("The Book of Protection"), Maha Pirit Potha, or Catubhāṇavāraapali ("Text of the Four Recitals"). It has also been referred to as the "Buddhist Bible." Copies of this collection are common in the home of Sri Lankans, with children being instructed in the recitations in the morning and before bed. The most commonly recited texts are the Mangala Sutta, Ratana Sutta, Karaniya Metta Sutta, and Khuddakapatha. The most common versions of the Maha Pirit Potha may have originated from a precursor of the Khuddakapatha, which otherwise receives relatively little attention in Theravada countries.

The book typically contains a collection of twenty-four or twenty-nine discourses (suttas) almost all delivered by the Buddha, and found scattered in the five original collections (nikayas) in Pali, which form the Sutta Pitaka, the "Canonical Discourses." Below, these discourses and related canonical sources are identified.

Thailand

In Thailand, the most important collection of paritta texts is The Royal Chanting Book, which was compiled by Saṅgharāja Sā Phussadeva under the sponsorship of King Chulalongkorn and published in 1880. The Royal Chanting Book comprises various parittas and suttas, and condensed versions of the three sections of the Pali canon, the Vinaya Piṭaka, Sutta Piṭaka and Abhidhamma Piṭaka, under the titles Phra Vinaya, Phra Sūtra, and Phra Paramartha, respectively. The Jinapañjara is the single most popular paritta in Thailand. For the case of Thai version paritta texts mention in The Royal Chanting Book, they have been classified in 2 categories including:

Cullarajaparitta which has 7 parittas or 7 tamnans according Thai Buddhist terminology)
Maharajaparitta which has 12 parittas or 12 tamnans according Thai Buddhist terminology) which cover all 7 suttas of Cullarajaparitta (1-7) and the other 5 suttas (8-12).

All 12 parittas can be listed as follows: