Uṇhissavijjaya in Cambodia: Rituals and Narrative

Abstract

The core of this paper is the translation of a short Cambodian manuscript entiteled Sec-ktī jīv-dān (The gift of life) . In the narrative of this text the Lord Buddha tells how a devaputta called Supati ṭṭ hita, should recite the stanzas of the U ṇ hissavijjaya in order to avoid the fate of falling into hell after his time in heaven is finished. The Lord Buddha even gives some instructions about how some rituals should be performed when reciting these stanzas. Though the manuscript of the Sec-ktī jīv-dān is quite rare nowadays in Cambodia, the ceremony of the gift of life ( pu ṇ y jīv-dān ) involving the ritualized recitation of the U ṇ hissavijjaya stanzas is not in Cambodia.