No. 29.— 1884.] BUDDHISTICAL CEREMONIES. 



225 



Icchitaih patthitaih tuyhaih 

 Khippaih eva samijjhatu 

 Purentu cittasamkappa 

 Cando pannarasi yatha. 



[May your desire and your happiness 



Soon be accomplished, 



May your hopes be fulfilled 



Like as the moon becomes round.] 



They are then lifted into their pulpits, on which they sit 

 cross-legged. One priest has with him a copy of a portion 

 of the Sutta pitakarii, from which he reads, while the other 

 expounds it to the people in Sinhalese. The reader recites 

 the Three Refuges and the Five Commandments, which the 

 people repeat after him, and he then summons the gods to 

 attend and hear the words of Buddha : — 



Sagge kame ca rape girisikhara tate cantalikkhe vimane 

 Dipe ratthe ca game taruvana gahane gehavatthamhi khette. 

 Bhumya c'ayantu deva jalathala visame yakkha gandhabbanaga 

 Jitthanta santike 'dam munivaravacanam sadhavo me sunantu. 



[Let the gods of heaven and of earth, those that dwell in the 

 Brahma world, the deities that keep guard over mountain tops, 

 and lakes, and ponds, and those who have their mansions in the 

 sky, and the tutelar deities of the countries of India, of our 

 villages, our trees, our forests, our houses, our gardens, our fields, 

 and the earth-born, the dwelling in swamps, malignant spirits, the 

 dancers of the god- world, and dragons,— let all draw near and listen 

 with pious reverence to these words of the renowned sage.] 



The expounder or preacher then says, " Namo tassa" &c. 

 ["Praise be," &c.],and recites some stanzas in praise of the 

 Three J ewels. He either selects stanzas from Buddhaghosa's 

 or other Commentaries, or sometimes he recites stanzas of 

 his own composition. The reader then reads a few stanzas, 

 and the preacher explains them sentence by sentence in 

 Sinhalese, but in learned language which only a few 

 understand. 



This is continued for about five hours, and the reading 

 comes to an end. The respondent [pativacana ddyako] now 

 comes forward, and the preacher preaches to the people in 



