Safeguard Recitals (a book of protection chants)

Introduction - vii
About the Text
1: Authorities
The text of Catubhāṇavārapāḷi printed in the main section of this book has been prepared through a
comparison of the following authorities, which are given here along with the abbreviations used in
the variant readings.
CBhp: Catubhāṇavārapāḷi, edited by Ven. Siri Sumanatissa Nāyaka Thero. Simon Hewavitarane
Bequest Pāḷi Text Series Vol VII. 1956, reprinted Colombo, 1992.
MPP: Maha Pirit Pota, edited by Ācarya Sri Vācissara Devundara Nāhimi, new edition by
Makaladuve Sri Piyaratana Nāhimi. Colombo, 1995.
PPV: Piruvānā Pot Vahanse, edited by Attudāve Rāhula Sthavira. Taiwan, 1994.
PPV2: Piruvānā Pot Vahanse, edited by Bodāgama Candima Nāhimi. Taiwan, 2000.
The Commentary on Catubhāṇavārapāḷi, Sāratthasamuccaya, published in the Simon Hewavitarane
Bequest Aṭṭhakathā Series Vol XXVII, 1929 (reprinted 1992), was also consulted.
2: Variant Readings
There are some variations in the text which, as they make little difference in recital have not been
noted in the variant readings, but which may usefully be outlined here: 1
CBhp, PPV2 sometimes print ṇ for the more usual n, as in nibbāṇa, pahāṇa, sayaṇhasamaya.
CBhp sometimes has ḷ for l, as in antaḷikkha, piḷakā.
PPV2 sometimes has l for ḷ, as in Veluvane.
MPP sometimes prints n where we normally find ṇ, as in utuparināma, pisuna.
PPV, PPV2 quite often have ṁ for ñ, and occasionally in place of other nasals, which is simply an
alternative way of representing these sounds.
None of the books are entirely consistent in their usage, which may not be the fault of the editors, but
because this is a collection of texts that was originally passed down in different manuscript
traditions. However, in this edition I have preferred to prepare a text which is consistent, as far as
that is possible.
Printer’s errors, like printing tī as the quotation marker, have also not normally been noted, though
where they amount to the omission of a word or line they have been included.
Owing to the Sinhala typeface used in MPP & PPV it is impossible to tell the difference between u &
ū when in combination with certain letters, so that e.g. bhikkhu & bhikkhū are indistinguishable,
except by context, and it was therefore not possible to note the variants in this regard.
1 Variant readings have only been recorded for the main part of the text (the Catubhāṇavārapāḷi), and
not for the Mahāparittaṁ or the Upaganthā.