Buddham Saranam Gacchami: the Three Refuges with Meaning

Buddham saranam gacchami: the Pali chant of the three refuges from the Khuddakapāṭha, with the meaning of each line and what going for refuge means

Buddham saranam gacchami, 'I go to the Buddha for refuge', is the first line of the three refuges (tisaraṇa), the short Pali chant by which Buddhists take the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha as their refuge. It comes from the Khuddakapāṭha, the first book of the Minor Collection of the Tipitaka, and it is recited before taking the precepts, in daily chanting and at almost every Buddhist ceremony. This page gives the chant in Pali with the meaning of each line, and explains what going for refuge means.

What are the three refuges?

Tisaraṇa means 'the three refuges'; the Thai name, trai-sarana-khom, means 'going to the three refuges'. A refuge (saraṇa) is a shelter, a place of safety, and gacchāmi in the chant means 'I go'. The three are also called the Triple Gem (ratanattaya), the three precious things:

• The Buddha: the teacher who awakened by his own effort and showed the way out of suffering, the living proof that a human being can awaken.
• The Dhamma: what he taught and the truth it points to, both the path and its goal, nibbāna.
• The Saṅgha: the community of disciples who have practised the teaching and seen its truth for themselves, and in a wider sense the monks and nuns who have kept the teaching alive to this day.

The qualities of each are spelled out in the Itipi so chant, which many people recite after the three refuges.

What going for refuge means

Going for refuge is not joining a club or handing your life over to someone else. It is a decision of the heart: to take the Buddha as your teacher, the Dhamma as your guide and the Saṅgha as your example and companions on the way. In the suttas, people moved by a teaching declare it in their own words. At the end of the Kalama Sutta, for example, the Kālāmas say: 'We go for refuge to the Blessed One, to the Dhamma and to the Saṅgha of monks. From this day on, may the Blessed One remember us as lay followers who have gone for refuge for life.'

The Dhammapada makes clear what kind of shelter this is. Many people, driven by fear, go for refuge to mountains, forests, parks, trees and shrines, but that refuge is not secure and does not free them from suffering. The secure refuge is the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha, for one who sees the four noble truths with right wisdom. So the three refuges are not a charm against danger. They protect by changing how we see and how we live. The verses are given at the end of the chant below.

Relying on the Triple Gem does not mean giving up responsibility. In the last months of his life the Buddha told Ānanda to live with himself as his island and his refuge, with the Dhamma as his island and his refuge, and no other refuge. The Buddha shows the way; each person has to walk it.

When the three refuges are recited

• Before taking the precepts. After the request for the precepts and the homage to the Buddha, a monk leads the refuges line by line and everyone repeats them; then the five precepts or the eight follow.
• In daily chanting, at home or at a temple, after the homage to the Buddha; see the daily chants.
• At ceremonies and holy days, such as merit-making, blessings, funerals and Vesak.
• At a novice's ordination, where going for the three refuges is the heart of the ceremony.
• Alone, at any time: before meditation, before sleep, or whenever you want to remember what matters.

How to recite Buddham saranam gacchami

Sit or kneel before a Buddha image if you have one, or anywhere quiet. Many people first bow three times, with forehead, forearms and palms touching the floor, once each for the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha. Then say the homage to the Buddha three times, followed by Buddham saranam gacchami and the other refuges, all three sets. Say the words slowly, with their meaning in mind; it is better to recite once with attention than many times without it.

On pronunciation: Buddham saranam gacchami is said roughly bud-dhang sa-ra-nang gach-chah-mee. The ṁ at the end of a word is a soft nasal, heard as 'ng' in Thai chanting, and double consonants are held for a moment. In Thai reading letters the line is พุทธัง สะระณัง คัจฉามิ.

The chant

Machine translation from: Saraṇattaya, the Three Refuges, Khuddakapāṭha (KP 1) · Dhammapada, Chapter on the Buddha (Dhp 179–196) · Kesamutti Sutta (to the Kālāmas) (AN 3.65) · Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16) · Closing words of the refuge ceremony, traditional wording, author unknown