 | Buddhism and the spirit cults in North-east Thailand |  |
2. Khanda paritta
The potency of this paritta is to make the poison of deadly creatures,
especially snakes, innocuous. In general it wards off all danger from
creatures. The Canonical basis for the paritta is the reference to the Buddha
issuing in the Anguttara Nikaya and the Cullavagga a charm against
snake bite and recommending its use by monks.
The antidote recommended is, however, quite in line with what we
have noted before: it is not an exorcistic spell but an asseveration of love
for snakes and an affirmation of Buddhist metta, and is charmingly
described in the Khandhavatta Jataka (Cowell 1895, Vol. 11, no. 203).
The bodhisatva, it is said, was once born as a brahman in Kasi and later
became an ascetic. On its being reported to him that many ascetics died
of snake bite, he gathered them together and having admonished them
`If you showed goodwill to the four royal races of snakes, no serpents
would bite you', taught them how, by cultivating love for the four royal
races of snakes, they could prevent themselves from ever being bitten by
them (or any other creature). `Creatures all beneath the sun, / two feet,
four feet, more, or none— / How I love you, every one!' (Ibid. p. 101.)
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