The significance of Piritha (Paritta) chanting.

The Paritta means protection because the human being feels that he has many evils to
over come. Most of the evils are unseen. So in order to protect the man from unseen
forces the Paritta is being chanted by the Buddhist monks. According to scholars the
Piritta is based on to factors !" the poer of the truth and #" the other is the poer of
compassion. That is the Sacca and Maitri.
$ven from the time of %ig &edic in 'ndia people believed that ords have certain unseen
poer. They named the ord as Brahman. Brahma means the breath that one issue from
one mouth. According to Ma((hima )ikaya Angulimala sutta is chanted for a pregnant
oman to deliver a child hich means that it has a certain poer hich leads to the
deliverance of a child. This is because it has a poer of the truth. The poer of Metta is
shon in the Anguttaranikaya *atukanipata" Pattakamma vagga. 'n this &agga it is
e+plained ho one Buddhist monk has been bitten by a snake. ,hen it as informed to
the Buddha" the Buddha asked him to e+tent metta. So by e+tending metta the patience
recovered from the snakebite. That is hy it is said the Paritta has the poer to heal the
patient by e+tending Metta to the snake. The Paritta has a very long history even during
the Buddha lifetime. 't is said that the Buddha chanted %attana Sutta in order to e+pel the
three folds fears. This is stated in -huddakanikay Paritta as a ritual has been performed
since the first Buddhist *ouncil. 't is given in the Milindapanha" Milindapanha e+plained
ho Paritta can be employed for the purpose of protection as ell as to heal the diseases
of the people. 'n performing the Paritta chanting there is a system of using ater and
thread through hich the benefit of the chanting is given all to the devotee. This is
e+plained in a book called &inaya vinicchaya hich belongs to the .
th
A/. &en. Anada is
said that reciting %attana Sutta he ondered all over the street of &esali ith sprinkling
the Pirith ater in the city. 'n this it is clear that in the ancient days the Buddhist monks
chanted Paritta hile sprinkling ater on the devotees.
'n /hammapada Atthagatha there is a story called /ighayakumara vasthu in hich an
e+planation is given regarding the performing of Paritta ceremony. 't says that by
constructing a mantrap (pavilion) and inviting the monks to sit ithin it and re0uested to
chant Paritta for seven days. ,hile the Bhikkhu ere chanting Paritta" the devotees ho
ere fallen into difficulty are asked to sit in the middle and the blessings of the Paritta are
given over to him. 'n Sumangala vilasini it is given in Atasatiyata commentary that
Paritta is one of the most effective ays of giving protection to the people as ell as
biding their diseases. All these stories in Buddhism very clearly shoed us that Paritta is
one of the very effective ays for the protection of devotees.
$ven in Sri 1anka since the time of the introduction of Buddhism it appears to have had a
system of doing blessing to the devotees by the Buddhist monks. But according to our
chronicle it is given that during the 2
th
A/ our Sinhalese king re0uested the Buddhist
monks to chant Pirith for the benefit of the people" country and the religion. 3oever"
from this olden4days this ceremony has a certain order in hich this festival has
conducted. The Buddhist devotees in performing this ceremony alays constructed a
decorated pavilion (mandape). This mandape has a symboli5ed meaning. 'n making this
mandape one has to construct a tree in the middle of pavilion. This is called 'ndra keela
(main tree). Mostly the tree about 6 feet high and it is a branch of a living tree. 't is being
decorated ith a hite clothes and on the top of hich there is a decoration in the form of
fan and the are provided for the Bhikkhus all around the tree. The Bhikkhus sit on these
chairs and began to chant Paritta. So this tree symboli5ing the Bodhi4Tree here the
Bodhisatta attained enlightenment. Sometime some scholars are of opinion this tree
indicates the ish conferring tree" -alpa rukkha. The tree hich give you a ish.
Again according to a book called Manasara" this kelpa rukkha is placed inside the
pavilion because the chanting of Paritta ill give their health" ealth" and protection. 't is
said that this tree ithin the pavilion is compared to the 7upa. Some people try to
compare the tree ith the pavilion to the 7upa pillar planted over the altar. 'n Brahmin
literature 7upa pillar is e+plained as a symbol of universal tree. So the tree ithin this
mandapa is also considered as the tree hich connect the earth and heaven. 3ence the
scholars think that this 7upa pillar has been planted as an 'ndra -eela into the Parith
chanting ceremony.
Then fertilely both these 7upa tree 7upa pilla and 'ndra -eela have the same function.
The only different is conceptual meaning that is 7upa symboli5es the action of violence.
The 'ndra -eela symboli5es the action of protection and elfare. The most scholars
believed that in pleasing the tree in the middle of the pillar is to indicate the Buddha
Bodhi Mandapa because in Buddhist book it is said that Buddha Mandapa is situated in
the center of the universe. 't you take the Parith Mandapa as the universe then the tree is
planted in the middle of pavilion. The ne+t important thing is alays Pirith pavilion is
constructed facing east because it is said that the Buddha attained $nlightenment facing
by facing to the east. Then the around the tree a five . kinds of floers are kept hich is
called Panca puppha. They are as folloings8
!. Parched grain 4vilasda.
#. Broken rice 4rice is pounded.
9. ,hite mustard.
2. :usaune bud 4saman.
.. Panic grass 4 kind of grass.
All these things are placed around the tree because devotees believed that they ould
e+pel the 7akkha and spirit.
Apart from this they placed a filled pot closed to the foot of the tree. Then a filter pot of
ater is placed at the foot of the tree and it is called Paritha ater because it is made
sacred by reciting Parith. Taking ater for the purpose of sprinkling is a very ancient
custom. 'n &edic 'ndia the ater is associated ith the ;od &aruna. &aruna is the god
ho guarded the entire sky. So he has a certain force over the life of the people. That is
hy the ater has been taken to sprinkle to the people as a mean of giving the benefit of
the Parith *hanting. 't is believed that by drinking Parith ater one can e+pel the fear of
the nonhuman beings and at the same time it has the poer of medicine hich ill heal
your diseases. 'n the same ay the Buddhist monks used the thread in order to e+pel the
fear of spirit and the ghost. <sing the thread for the purpose of e+pelling the fear and the
nonhuman being is a practice that is been used from the &edic period. That is hy the
Buddhist monks hile chanting the Parith spread out the thread among the devotees and
the Buddhist monks also holding the thread and thread the breath is alloed to touch the
thread.
*ontents8
!. Saranagamana.
#. /asasikkhapada != precepts. -)
9. Samanera Panha.
2. /asadhamma sutta. A)
.. Mangala" %attana" -araniya" Metta Suttas. -)
6. *atuthanipada" -handha Suttas" A).
>. Mettanisamsa A).?
@.