Prayer · Buddhist practice
Homage to the Buddha
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One
नमो तस्स भगवतो अरहतो सम्मासम्बुद्धस्स
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa
The Pāli homage that opens almost every act of Theravāda chanting. Before the refuges, before the precepts, before a sutta is recited, this line is said three times.
Source: Traditional Pāli homage
Traditionally said three times, rather than counted on beads.
Not counted on beads
How many times
Traditionally said three times.
Japa counts this one without a mala: a plain daily number rather than a ring of beads, with the words kept in view while you say them. Counting is unlimited and free.
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What the words say
Namo is homage. Bhagavato — 'to the Blessed One' — is the ordinary respectful address for the Buddha. Arahato names him as one in whom craving is extinguished. Sammāsambuddhassa is the fullest of the titles: awakened, completely, and by himself rather than through a teacher.
Where it comes from
The formula appears throughout the Pāli canon as the words with which lay followers and devas alike salute the Buddha, and it was carried into liturgy from there. It is recited in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in Pāli, whatever the local language.
How it is practised
Three times, at the start. The repetition is the tradition rather than a goal to accumulate — this is an opening, and what follows it is the practice.
References
- Recurs throughout the Pāli Nikāyas as a salutation formula; standard opening of Theravāda paritta and puja chanting
Keep it, and count it every day.
Japa keeps this text beside a large, calm counter on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with a haptic for every bead and an optional bell at the end of each round. Counting is unlimited and free.
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