In Sri Lanka

All of these books are available at the book shops in our monasteries. In Colombo they are available at the Tripitaka Sadaham Poth Medura in the YMBA building on Austin Place. Phone 01 14 255 987.

The Voice of Enlightened Nuns: Therigatha

From the Author:

Before this publication, I wrote a comprehensive commentary on the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (The Great Discourse on the Establishments of Mindfulness) based on excerpts from various suttas. The book was published under the title The Supreme Bliss of Nibbana, and gained recognition from pious Buddhist Devotees. Though devotees have for quite some time been requesting that I furnish a book that is suited for chanting the Maha Satipatthana Sutta in both Pali and Sinhala languages, so far it was delayed as I was busy. This publication is in response to the request made by those devotees. If a person melodiously chants this Pali-Sinhala Maha Satipatthana Discourse in a peaceful place in his home, in a stupa compound or under the shade of a Bodhi-tree, or any other suitable location, by doing so they can accrue both the great merit of chanting the Dhamma of the Tatagatha and the great merit of contemplating on the Dhamma. To make the chanting easier for you, places you are supposed to pause are marked with the / sign. By chanting this Maha Satipatthana Sutta, you have the fortune of getting a clear interpretation of the Four Noble Truths from the words of the Buddha himself. Therefore I bless you to accrue exquisite merit by melodiously chanting this Maha Satipatthana Sutta with a pleasant mind, contemplating on its meaning. By the influence of the merits thus gained, may you realise the Four Noble Truths in this Gauthama Buddha’s Dispensation! (This book is a translation of Buddhist scriptures found in the Sutta Pitaka, preserved in theTheravada Buddhist tradition.)

—Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thera


1.1 Ānāpāna Pabbaṁ: Section on Breathing

Kathañca bhikkhave bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati?/
“How, monks, does a monk dwell contemplating the body in body?

Idha bhikkhave bhikkhu/ araññagato vā rukkhamūlagato vā suññāgāragato vā/ nisīdati pallaṅkaṁ ābhujitvā,/ ujuṁ kāyaṁ paṇidhāya/ parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapetvā./ So sato’va assasati,/ sato’va passasati./ Dīghaṁ vā assasanto, dighaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti./ Dīghaṁ vā passasanto, dīghaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti./ Rassaṁ vā assasanto, rassaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti./ Rassaṁ vā passasanto, rassaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti./
Here monks, a monk, gone to the forest or to the foot of a tree • or to a secluded place, • sits down folding his legs crosswise, • holding his body straight, • and setting mindfulness on the meditation object. “Mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.“When breathing in a long breath, he knows, • ‘I am breathing in a long breath.’ When breathing out a long breath, he knows, • ‘I am breathing out a long breath.’“When breathing in a short breath, he knows: • ‘I am breathing in a short breath.’ When breathing out a short breath, he knows: • ‘I am breathing out a short breath.’

Sabbakāya paṭisaṁvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati,/ sabbakāya paṭisaṁvedī passasissāmīti sikkhati./ Passambhayaṁ kāya saṅkhāraṁ assasissāmīti sikkhati,/ passambhayaṁ kāya saṅkhāraṁ passasissāmīti sikkhati./
“‘Conscious of the entire breathing process, I shall breathe in,’ • thus he trains himself. Conscious of the entire breathing process, I shall breathe out,’ • thus he trains himself. “‘Calming the entire breathing process, I shall breathe in,’ • thus he trains himself. ‘Calming the entire breathing process, I shall breathe out,’ • thus he trains himself.

Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, dakkho bhamakāro vā bhamakārantevāsī vā/ dīghaṁ vā añchanto, dīghaṁ añchāmīti pajānāti./ Rassaṁ vā añchanto, rassaṁ añchāmīti pajānāti./
“Just as monks, a skilled turner or his apprentice, • when making a long turn, understands, • ‘I am making a long turn,’ • or when making a short turn understands, • ‘I am making a short turn.’

Evameva kho bhikkhave, bhikkhu/ dīghaṁ vā assasanto, dīghaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti./ Dīghaṁ vā passasanto dīghaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti./ Rassaṁ vā assasanto rassaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti./ Rassaṁ vā passasanto rassaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti./
In the same way monks, • when breathing in a long breath, the monk knows, • ‘I am breathing in a long breath.’ When breathing out a long breath, he knows, • ‘I am breathing out a long breath.’ When breathing in a short breath, he knows, • ‘I am breathing in a short breath.’ When breathing out a short breath, he knows, • ‘I am breathing out a short breath.’

Sabbakāya paṭisaṁvedī assasissāmīti sikkhati./ Sabbakāya paṭisaṁvedī passasissāmīti sikkhati./ Passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ assasissāmīti sikkhati,/ passambhayaṁ kāyasaṅkhāraṁ passasissāmīti sikkhati./
‘Conscious of the entire breathing process, I shall breathe in,’ • thus he trains himself. ‘Conscious of the entire breathing process, I shall breathe out,’ • thus he trains himself. ‘Calming the entire breathing process, I shall breathe in,’ • thus he trains himself. ‘Calming the entire breathing process, I shall breathe out,’ • thus he trains himself.

Iti ajjhattaṁ vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./ Bahiddhā vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./ Ajjhatta bahiddhā vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./
“In this way he dwells contemplating his own body, • he dwells contemplating others’ bodies, • and he dwells contemplating both his and others’ bodies.

Samudaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./ Vaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./ Samudaya vaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./
“He dwells contemplating the arising of the body, • he dwells contemplating the passing away of the body, • and he dwells contemplating the arising and passing away of the body.

Atthi kāyo’ti vā panassa sati paccupaṭṭhitā hoti./ Yāvadeva ñāṇa mattāya, patissati mattāya,/ anissito ca viharati./ Na ca kiñci loke upādiyati./
“Mindfulness, that there is a body • is simply established in him • to the extent necessary for higher knowledge and mindfulness. He dwells independent, and not clinging to anything in the world.

Evampi kho bhikkhave bhikkhu / kāye kāyānupassī viharati./
That is how monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in body.

1.4 Paṭikūlamanasikāra Pabbaṁ: Section on Repulsiveness

Puna ca paraṁ bhikkhave bhikkhu / imameva kāyaṁ uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā/ taca pariyantaṁ pūraṁ nānappakārassa asucino paccavekkhati./ “Atthi imasmiṁ kāye, kesā, lomā, nakhā, dantā, taco,/ maṁsaṁ, nahāru, aṭṭhi, aṭṭhi miñjaṁ, vakkaṁ,/ hadayaṁ, yakanaṁ, kilomakaṁ, pihakaṁ, papphāsaṁ,/ antaṁ, antaguṇaṁ, udariyaṁ, karīsaṁ, matthaluṁgaṁ/ pittaṁ, semhaṁ, pubbo, lohitaṁ,/ sedo, medo, assu, vasā, kheḷo,/ siṁghāṇikā, lasikā, muttanti.”/
“Again, monks, a monk considers this body upwards from the soles of the feet, • and downwards from the tips of the hairs, enclosed in skin, • as full of many kinds of impurities: ‘In this body there are head hairs, • body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, • flesh, blood vessels, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, brain• heart, liver, gall bladder, spleen, lungs, • small intestine, large intestine, stomach, feces, brain • bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, • skin oil, saliva, mucus, • fluid in the joints, and urine.’

“Seyyathāpi bhikkhave ubhato mukhā muṭoḷi / pūrā nānāvihitassa dhaññassa,/ seyyathīdaṁ,/ sālīnaṁ, vihīnaṁ, muggānaṁ, māsānaṁ, tilānaṁ, taṇḍulānaṁ./ Tamenaṁ cakkhumā puriso muñcitvā paccavekkheyya:/ “ime sālī, ime vīhī, ime muggā, ime māsā,/ ime tilā, ime taṇḍulā’ti./
“Just as though there were a bag with an opening at both ends • full of many sorts of grain, • such as hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, and white rice, • and a man with good eyes were to open it and review it thus: ‘This is hill rice, this is red rice, • these are beans, these are peas, • this is millet, and this is white rice.’

Evameva kho bhikkhave bhikkhu/ imameva kāyaṁ uddhaṁ pādatalā adho kesamatthakā / taca pariyantaṁ pūraṁ nānappakārassa asucino paccavekkhati:/ atthi imasmiṁ kāye kesā, lomā, nakhā, dantā, taco,/ maṁsaṁ, nahāru, aṭṭhi, aṭṭhimiñjaṁ, vakkaṁ,/ hadayaṁ, yakanaṁ, kilomakaṁ, pihakaṁ, papphāsaṁ,/ antaṁ, antaguṇaṁ, udariyaṁ, karīsaṁ, matthaluṁgaṁ/ pittaṁ, semhaṁ, pubbo, lohitaṁ,/ sedo, medo, assu, vasā, kheḷo,/ siṅghānikā, lasikā, muttanti.”/
In the same way , monks, a monk considers this body upwards from the soles of the feet, • and downwards from the tips of the hairs, enclosed in skin, • as full of many kinds of impurities: • ‘There are in this body head hairs, • body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, • flesh, blood vessels, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, • heart, liver, gall bladder, spleen, lungs, • small intestine, large intestine, stomach, feces, brain • bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, • skin oil, saliva, mucus, • fluid in the joints, and urine.’

Iti ajjhattaṁ vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./ Bahiddhā vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./ Ajjhatta bahiddhā vā kāye kāyānupassī viharati./
“In this way he dwells contemplating his own body, • he dwells contemplating others’ bodies, • and he dwells contemplating both his and others’ bodies.

Samudaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./ Vaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./ Samudaya vaya dhammānupassī vā kāyasmiṁ viharati./
“He dwells contemplating the arising of the body, • he dwells contemplating the passing away of the body, • and he dwells contemplating the arising and passing away of the body.

Atthi kāyo’ti vā panassa sati paccupaṭṭhitā hoti./ Yāvadeva ñāṇa mattāya, patissati mattāya,/ anissito ca viharati./ Na ca kiñci loke upādiyati./
“Mindfulness, that there is a body • is simply established in him • to the extent necessary for higher knowledge and mindfulness. He dwells independent, and not clinging to anything in the world.

Evampi kho bhikkhave bhikkhu / kāye kāyānupassī viharati./
That is how monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in body.