Paritta


Paritta, generally translated as "protection" or "safeguard," refers to the specific Buddhist verses and discourses recited in order to ward off misfortune or danger, as well as to the practice of reciting the verses and discourses. The practice of reciting or listening to the paritta suttas began very early in the history of Buddhism.

History and Uses

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 and pravacanakīrti śrī, 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 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 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.

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. Of these paritta, one of the best known is the Ratana Sutta where, for instance, it states in part:

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 and Suriya Sutta 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:
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 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, 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, 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, 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
1.Paritta-Parikamma - Preliminary of Paritta Composed by compilers
2.Maṅgala Sutta Khp 3-4,Sn 308-9
3.Ratana Sutta
•introductory passage • following two verses • remaining text		DhpA ii. 272,Khp 4-7,
Sn 312-5
4.Mettā Sutta Khp 10-12, Sn 300-1
5.Khandha Sutta Vinaya, iv. 245, AN i. 348,
Ja no. 203
6.Mora Sutta Ja no. 159
7.Vaṭṭa Sutta Cp 415
8.Dhajagga Sutta Sn i 220-2
9.Āṭānāṭiya Sutta
•verses 104- 109 •verses 102, 103, 110-130 •verse 131		Dn iii. 159, Dhp verse 109,
10.Aṅgulimāla Sutta Mn ii. 306
11.Bojjhaṅga Sutta Sn iii. 71, 72, 73
12.Pubbaṇha Sutta Kp 5, Sn 312, An i 299,

Sri Lanka

The preferred paritta repertoire in Sri Lanka is known in Sinhala as the Pirit Potha, Maha Pirit Potha, or Catubhāṇavāraapali. 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 almost all delivered by the Buddha, and found scattered in the five original collections in Pali, which form the Sutta Pitaka, the "Canonical Discourses." Below, these discourses and related canonical sources are identified.
1.Sarana-gamana Khp 1
2.Dasa-sikkhapada Khp 2
3.Samanera-pañha Khp 4
4.Dvattimsakara Khp 3
5.Paccavekkhana MN 2, passim
6.Dasa-dhamma Sutta AN 10.48
7.Mahamangala Sutta Khp 5, Sn 2.4
8.Ratana Sutta Khp 6, Sn 2.1
9.Karaniya Metta Sutta Khp 9, Sn 1.8
10.Khandha-paritta AN 4.67
11.Metta-anisamsa AN 11.16
12.Mitta-anisamsa Ja 538
13.Mora-paritta Ja 159
14.Canda-paritta SN 2.9
15.Suriya-paritta SN 2.10
16.Dhajagga-paritta SN 11.3
17.Mahakassapa Thera Bojjhanga SN 46.14
18.Mahamoggallana Thera Bojjhanga SN 46.15
19.Mahacunda Thera Bojjhanga SN 46.16
20.Girimananda Sutta AN 10.60
21.Isigili Sutta MN 116
22.Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta SN 56.11
23.Maha-samaya Sutta DN 20
24.Alavaka Sutta SN 46.11
25.Kasi Bharadvaja Sutta Sn 1.4
26.Parabhava Sutta Sn 1.6
27.Vasala Sutta Sn 1.7
28.Sacca-vibhanga Sutta MN 141
29.Āṭānāṭiya Sutta DN 32