Prayer · Buddhist practice

The Three Refuges

I go to the Buddha for refuge; I go to the Dhamma for refuge; I go to the Saṅgha for refuge

බුද්ධං සරණං ගච්ඡාමි ධම්මං සරණං ගච්ඡාමි සංඝං සරණං ගච්ඡාමි

Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi

The three refuges — the oldest formula by which a person becomes a Buddhist, and still the one used. Taking refuge in the Buddha, his teaching and the community of practitioners is what a lay follower says before the precepts and what is repeated at every ceremony afterwards.

Source: Khuddakapāṭha 1

Traditionally said once, rather than counted on beads.

Not counted on beads

How many times

Traditionally said once.

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

Saraṇaṃ is refuge or shelter; gacchāmi is 'I go'. The grammar is deliberately a movement rather than a state — one goes for refuge, repeatedly, rather than having gone once. Buddhaṃ, Dhammaṃ and Saṅghaṃ are the awakened one, the teaching, and the community.

Where it comes from

The formula is canonical and appears throughout the Vinaya and the Nikāyas as the act of becoming a lay follower. It is recited in Pāli across all Theravāda countries; the script here is Sinhala, as it is read in Sri Lanka.

How it is practised

In formal use each line is said three times, the second and third prefaced by dutiyampi ('a second time') and tatiyampi ('a third time'). This app carries the single pass; follow your community's form.

References

Khuddakapāṭha 1 (Saraṇagamana)
Vinaya, Mahāvagga I

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