PARITTA

　　SELF PROTECTION & SELF PROSPERITY

　　MAKE IT YOURSELF

　　Sinhala translation

　　by

　　Ven Madihe Pa¤¤àsãha Mahànàyaka Thera

　　English translation and Introduction

　　by

　　Bhikkhu Dhammavihàrã

　　CONTENTS

　　 PROLOGUE

　　 INTRODUCTION

　　 Mahamangala Sutta: The Great Collection of Success-Generators

　　 Ratana Sutta: The Collection of Jewels

　　 Metta Sutta: Collection on the Development of Loving Kindness

　　PROLOGUE

　　These written words about Buddhism which follow are meant for those who wish to take serious note about themselves and wish to correct their modes of living, if discovered to be out of alignment. You alone preside over your life. Who else could do that

　　 [Attà hi attano nàtho ko hi nàtho paro siyà]. On the basis of this maxim, the Buddhists are called upon to view their success and failure in life, their affluence and poverty, their joys and sorrows, all as products of their own doings and misdoings. Their correction therefore lies in one”s own hands. Taman hisaña tama ata maya sevanella goes the saying in Sinhala. Your hands alone will ward off the sun”s rays from falling on your head.

　　Common places of prayer and supplicaton, springing up like mushrooms all over the island, promising to meet demands of anybody from any faith, particularly in times of deaths and disasters, in loss and grief, and to have requests fulfilled through intermediary processes completely unmindful of religious loyalties, are undoubtedly freak phenomena of recent times. In any correct assessment of their role in society, they have to be relentlessly rejected as being neither fish nor fowl. They get reduced to nothing more than strategies of the market place, exploiting gullibility and selling unwanted goods at any low price. Like masked wrestlers in the ring, they need to be unmasked and exposed.

　　In presenting this miniature collection of three parittas, Mangala, Ratana and Metta [tun såtraya] in Pali text and in English translation, it is our endeavour to make clear that much of the good out of the parittas that one expects in situations of stress and strain would come to the reciter primarily through his acceptance of the teachings of the parittas as wholesome and effective, and his willingness to correct the mistakes in his own life style and to make the necessary adjustments to be in conformity with the Buddha word. Learn to integrate parittas to be part of your spiritual growth.

　　Even to young children of ten or fifteen years of age the Pali texts should offer no problem. If only the adults, i.e. those like parents or other family members near enough to them, would correctly and adequately instruct them with regard to their meaning, they would and could endeavour to soon associate the Sinhala [or English, whichever the children know better] meaning with the Pali word. But are our adults, well and truly, competent to do this

　　 Teach these concepts, not the Pali words, to your children and see them grow up within your perimeter.

　　Teach them concepts like Natthi me saraõaü a¤¤aü Buddho me saraõam varaü : I have no other refuge to go to. The Buddha is my safe and gracious refuge. If you really know what you say, the younger cannot really miss it. When you talk about the Dhamma tell them about sandiññhiko akàliko, i.e. the good results of the Dhamma, of its concepts like love [mettà] and charity [dàna] which are to be experienced here and now, without having to seek the help of some other to gather its harvest after death. Dhamma enriches and ennobles life in the human community. A hungry mouth fed and a loving word uttered, are all aspects of the living Dhamma. Show them its validity through the convincing example you set. That”s the only way to reach them. Otherwise w…

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