Chanting › Mora Paritta — the peacock’s protection
Mora Paritta — the peacock’s protection
Paritta (protective chants)

Mora Paritta — the peacock’s protection

Moraparittaṃ

The verses of the golden peacock in the Mora Jātaka: a morning verse as the sun rises, an evening verse as it sets, both ending in homage to the Buddhas and to liberation.

When it is chanted

Part of the traditional set of seven paritta chants, used by monks at auspicious ceremonies, house blessings, and whenever a family asks for the protective chants.

If you chant at home, the first half (Udetayañcakkhumā) is usually chanted in the morning before leaving the house, and the second half (Apetayañcakkhumā) in the evening before sleep, matching the times the verses describe.

When you finish, sit with your own mind for a moment. What you can actually observe is a mind that has found its footing again — not a guarantee that nothing will go wrong.

Background

In the Mora Jātaka the Bodhisatta was born as a golden peacock. For years a hunter tried to trap him and failed, because every morning before going out to feed the peacock would stand on a hilltop and recite verses of homage to the sun and to all the Buddhas, and every evening before returning to his roost he would recite them again.

So the chant is both an act of homage and a daily way of settling the mind. "Cakkhumā ekarājā" — "the one with eyes, the sole king" — is the sun, the eye of the world and the single sovereign of light. But the verses do not stop there: they turn at the end to the Buddhas, to awakening, to those who are freed and to freedom itself, which is the safer refuge.

The Pali here is taken directly from the royal edition of the Tipiṭaka, volume 27, and re-divided into chanting lines.

Pali

  1. Udetayañcakkhumā ekarājā The sun, the eye of the world, the one sovereign of light, is rising,
  2. Harissavaṇṇo paṭhavippabhāso golden in colour, lighting up the whole earth.
  3. Taṃ taṃ namassāmi harissavaṇṇaṃ paṭhavippabhāsaṃ I pay homage to that golden one who lights up the whole earth.
  4. Tayajja guttā viharemu divasaṃ Guarded by you today, may we live happily through the day.
  5. Ye brāhmaṇā vedagu sabbadhamme Those who have gone to the far shore of all truths —
  6. Te me namo te ca maṃ pālayantu homage to them from me, and may they protect me.
  7. Namatthu buddhānaṃ namatthu bodhiyā Homage to the Buddhas, homage to awakening.
  8. Namo vimuttānaṃ namo vimuttiyā Homage to those who are freed, homage to freedom.
  9. Imaṃ so parittaṃ katvā moro carati esanā Having made this protection, the peacock goes out to seek his food.
  10. Apetayañcakkhumā ekarājā The sun, the eye of the world, the one sovereign of light, is setting,
  11. Harissavaṇṇo paṭhavippabhāso golden in colour, lighting up the whole earth.
  12. Taṃ taṃ namassāmi harissavaṇṇaṃ paṭhavippabhāsaṃ I pay homage to that golden one who lights up the whole earth.
  13. Tayajja guttā viharemu rattiṃ Guarded by you tonight, may we live happily through the night.
  14. Ye brāhmaṇā vedagu sabbadhamme Those who have gone to the far shore of all truths —
  15. Te me namo te ca maṃ pālayantu homage to them from me, and may they protect me.
  16. Namatthu buddhānaṃ namatthu bodhiyā Homage to the Buddhas, homage to awakening.
  17. Namo vimuttānaṃ namo vimuttiyā Homage to those who are freed, homage to freedom.
  18. Imaṃ so parittaṃ katvā moro vāsamakappayi Having made this protection, the peacock settles down to rest.
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Where it comes from in the Tipiṭaka

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