Reading guide
Three gems, a repeated refrain
Across its eighteen verses, this text works through the three refuges of Kp 1 one at a time — the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha — praising each as an unequalled ‘gem’ (ratana), most verses closing with the same refrain naming which of the three the verse has just praised.
Not evenly divided between the three
The praise is not distributed in strict order or equal measure: Buddha-verses and Dhamma-verses appear early, then a long run of Saṅgha-verses follows, and the final Buddha- and Saṅgha-verses close the sequence before three concluding verses address all three together.
Doctrine folded into praise
The Saṅgha-verses in particular carry compressed doctrinal content — references to ‘the four pairs’ of noble disciples, to giving up ‘substantialist view, doubt, and attachment to precepts and observances’, and to being freed from ‘the four places of loss’ — describing stages of the path in the same breath as praising the community that embodies them.
A protective chant, by tradition
Later commentarial tradition frames this text as taught to address a calamity — famine, disease, and hostile spirits — afflicting the city of Vesālī, with the truth-statements in each refrain understood as the source of its protective power. The text as it stands here carries no such narrative; the setting comes from commentary, not from this text itself.
Also a text of the Sutta Nipāta
As with Kp 5, this discourse appears again, with only small wording differences between the two translations, as its own numbered text within the Sutta Nipāta.
Key terms
The text
§1Whatever beings have gathered here, on the ground or in the sky, may beings all be of happy heart, and listen carefully to what is said.
§2So pay heed, all you beings, have love for humankind, who day and night bring offerings; please protect them diligently.
§3There’s no wealth this life or the next, no sublime gem in the heavens, that equals the Realized One. This sublime gem is in the Buddha: by this truth, may you be well!
§4Ending, dispassion, the undying, the sublime, attained by the Sakyan Sage immersed in samādhi; there is nothing equal to that Dhamma. This sublime gem is in the Dhamma: by this truth, may you be well!
§5The purity praised by the highest Buddha, is said to be the “immersion with immediate fruit”; no equal to that immersion is found. This sublime gem is in the Dhamma: by this truth, may you be well!
§6The eight individual persons praised by the good are the four pairs of the Holy One’s disciples; they are worthy of religious donations, what’s given to them is very fruitful. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§7Dedicated to Gotama’s dispensation, strong-minded, free of sense desire, they’ve attained the goal, plunged into freedom from death, and enjoy the quenching they’ve freely gained. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§8As Indra’s pillar rooted in earth is not shaken by the four winds, I say a true person is like this, who sees the noble truths in experience. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§9Those who fathom the noble truths taught by the one of deep wisdom, do not take an eighth life, even if they are hugely negligent. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§10When they attain to vision they give up three things: substantialist view, doubt, and any attachment to precepts and observances.
§11They’re freed from the four places of loss, and cannot do six things. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§12Even if they do a bad deed by body, speech, or mind, they are unable to conceal it; they say this inability applies to one who has seen the truth. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§13Like a tall forest tree crowned with flowers in the first month of summer; that’s how he taught the superb Dhamma, leading to extinguishment, the ultimate benefit. This sublime gem is in the Buddha: by this truth, may you be well!
§14The superb, knower of the superb, giver of the superb, bringer of the superb; taught the superb Dhamma supreme. This sublime gem is in the Buddha: by this truth, may you be well!
§15The old is ended, nothing new is produced. their minds have no desire for future rebirth. Withered are the seeds, there’s no desire for growth, those attentive ones are extinguished just like this lamp. This sublime gem is in the Saṅgha: by this truth, may you be well!
§16Whatever beings have gathered here, on the ground or in the sky: the Realized One is honored by gods and humans! We bow to the Buddha! May you be safe!
§17Whatever beings have gathered here, on the ground or in the sky: the Realized One is honored by gods and humans! We bow to the Dhamma! May you be safe!
§18Whatever beings have gathered here, on the ground or in the sky: the Realized One is honored by gods and humans! We bow to the Saṅgha! May you be safe!
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