The ' is a discourse (Pali: '' sutta'') of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

on the subject of 'blessings' (''mangala'', also translated as 'good omen' or 'auspices' or 'good fortune'). In this discourse, Gautama Buddha describes 'blessings' that are wholesome personal pursuits or attainments, identified in a progressive manner from the mundane to the ultimate spiritual goal. In Sri Lanka, this sutta considered to be part of "Maha Pirith". This discourse is recorded in

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

's Khuddaka Nikaya in two places: in the Khuddakapāṭha ( Khp 5), and in the Sutta Nipāta ( Sn 2.4). In the latter source, the discourse is called the ''Mahāmangala Sutta''. It is also traditionally included in books of 'protection' (''

paritta Paritta (Pali), generally translated as "protection" or "safeguard," refers to the Buddhist practice of reciting certain verses and scriptures in order to ward off misfortune or danger, as well as to the specific verses and discourses recited ...

''). It is also found in the Tibetan Canon, in the Kangyur (བཀའ་འགྱུར།).

Content

The discourse was preached at

Jetavana Jetavana (Jethawanaramaya or Weluwanaramaya ''buddhist literature'') was one of the most famous of the Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India (present-day Uttar Pradesh). It was the second vihara donated to Gautama Buddha after the Venuvan ...

Temple in answer to a question asked by a deva as to which things in this world could truly be considered

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely d ...

s (''mangalāni''). The sutta describes thirty-eight blessings in ten sections, as shown in the table below:

Traditional context

The post-canonical Pali Commentary explains that at the time the sutta was preached there was great discussion over the whole of Jambudvipa regarding the definition of blessings. The devas heard the discussion and argued among themselves till the matter spread to the highest

Brahmā Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, ...

world. Then it was that Sakka suggested that a deva should visit the Buddha and ask him about it. This sutta is one of the suttas at the preaching of which countless devas were present and countless beings realized the Truth.

Uses

The sutta is often recited, and forms one of the commonest pieces of chanting used for the

Paritta Paritta (Pali), generally translated as "protection" or "safeguard," refers to the Buddhist practice of reciting certain verses and scriptures in order to ward off misfortune or danger, as well as to the specific verses and discourses recited ...

. To have it written down in a book is considered an act of great merit.

History

King Dutugemnu of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central P ...

preached the Mangala Sutta at the Lohapasada. The preaching of the Mangala Sutta was one of the incidents of the Buddha's life represented in the Relic Chamber of the

Ruwanwelisaya The Ruwanweli Maha Seya, also known as the Mahathupa (), is a stupa (a hemispherical structure containing relics) in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Two quarts or one Dona of the Buddha's relics are enshrined in the stupa, making it the largest collecti ...

.The

Mahāvaṃsa The ''Mahāvaṃsa'' (, Sinhala: මහාවංශය, Pali: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'' – written in the 5th century CE) is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka written in the style of an epic poem written in t ...

XXX. 83, translation by

George Turnour George Turnour Jnr, CCS (1799–1843) was a British colonial administrator, scholar and a historian. A member of the Ceylon Civil Service, he served as a Government Agent, Assistant Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of the Colony. He is known for ...

(1837), read online :

References

Sources

* T.W. Rhys Davids, Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead:

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The ...

. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.

External links

* Bhikkhu Ānandajoti (trans.)
The Discourse on the Blessings
( Khp 5). *Bhikkhu Brahmali (trans.) (2015)
The Greatest Good Fortune
( Sn 2.4). * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994). ''Mangala Sutta: Protection'' (Khp 5). Retrieved from "Access to Insight" on 08-15-2008 at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/khp/khp.1-9.than.html#khp-5.
Life’s Highest Blessings: The Maha-Mangala Sutta: Translation and Commentary
by Dr R.L.Soni
A Day of Practice and Discussion, Inspired by the Maṇgala Sutta
by Sharon Salzberg, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Spring 2000
Mangala Suta Uannana
by Ven. K. Gunaratana Thera (docx- file 69kB) Chandrabodhi chants the Mahamangala Sutta and other suttas in an 'Indian style' a

and Sangharakshita reads the Mahamangala and Karaniyametta suttas, although with other readings from the Pali Canon a

both retrieved from freebuddhistaudio.com {{Authority control Khuddaka Nikaya