(i)

BENEDICTION
by
His Holiness Somdet Phra Ñāṇasaṁvara
The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand

Patron of
The World Tipiṭaka Project
The M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund

Major Suradhaj Bunnag, my ordainee saddhivihārika, who was ordained as a

Buddhist monk under royal patronage, and who is the Chancellor of the M.L. Maniratana
Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund under the Patronage of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch
of Thailand, has informed me that he will publish the complete Pāḷi-language Tipiṭaka of
the Great International Council Buddhist Era 2500 (1957) in Roman script, for the first
time in Thailand. This Pāḷi Tipiṭaka has been meticulously edited by 2,500 Buddhist
monks of the highest scholastic repute in the Theravāda tradition from around the world.
The Romanised script edition of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, comprising 1,000 complete sets each
containing 40 volumes, will be presented as gifts of Dhamma to major international
institutions all over the world.
(ii)

I thereby designate this commemorative Pāḷi Tipiṭaka edition

in Pāḷi :
Mahāsaṁgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500

and in English :
The Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka

The Pāḷi Tipiṭaka is the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, the Teacher of man and
divine beings. The Pāḷi Tipiṭaka falls into three divisions1, namely, Vinayapiṭaka, the Book
on the Disciplines; Suttantapiṭaka, the Book on the Discourses; and Abhidhammapiṭaka,
the Book on the Ultimate Realities. It comprises 84,000 Dhammakhandhas, or Dhamma
sections.

As He approached Parinibbāna, the Buddha uttered:

2​ 16 484...yo vo, ānanda, mayā dhammo ca vinayo ca desito

paññatto, so vo mamaccayena satthā.​.​.​

Mahāsaṁgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 25002

7D2:484 BY - NC - ND

Ānanda, the Dhamma (Doctrine) which I have expounded and the

Vinaya (Discipline) which I have established for you all, the Dhamma
and the Vinaya will be your Teacher after I am gone...

Translation from The World Tipiṭaka Edition M2500: 7D2:4843

1
In the World Tipiṭaka Edition, the entire Pāḷi Tipiṭaka is divided into 86 Pāḷi sections according to 86
Pāḷi Titles of the Buddhist Era 2500 (1957) Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka. See Quick Guide.
2
See Dīghanikāya, Vol. 7, Book Division No. 216 of the Mahāsaṁgīti Tipiṭaka Edition of the Buddhist
Era 2500 Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, published by the Dhamma Society in Roman script
in B.E. 2545, and is referred in the new system of Tipiṭaka Studies Reference in this edition as M2500:
7D2.216, the Paragraph Number 484 is used instead of the Book Division Number 216.
3
See footnote 2
 (iii)

Consequently, five hundred Arahanta Elders, who were all led by Venerable
Mahākassapa Arahanta held the First Great Council for compilation of the Buddha’s
words in the Tipiṭaka at the city of Rājagaha in ancient India. The gathering of the
arahantas at the First Great Council is called in Pāḷi as Paṭhamamahāsaṁgīti. Thereafter
there were Great Councils with a view to perpetuate the Teachings of the Buddha.
Buddhists all over the world regard the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka as the Buddha Himself. Hence,
the compilation of the Buddha’s words and the propagation of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka are
profound meritorious acts.

Thailand’s friendly Buddhist countries including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia,

and Laos which profess Theravāda Buddhasāsana held, during Buddhist Era 2497-2499
(1953-1955), in Yangon, the Great Council of the Buddha’s Teaching. The Buddhist
monks who were well-versed in the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka were invited from all over the world
to edit and verify the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka.

With the approval of the Ecclesiastical Council under the auspices of the Royal
Thai Government, a group of Buddhist monks from Thailand including myself took part
in this Great Council. Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand made a State
Visit to Yangon, Myanmar, in Buddhist Era 2503 (1960), and offered their royal support
to the Great International Council along with the Heads of State of other countries. In
Their Majesties’ official suite, was included Thanphuying M.L. Maniratana Bunnag,
Her Majesty the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting.

With the completion of the Romanization of the Buddhist Era 2500 Great
International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Edition, Thanphuying M.L. Maniratana Bunnag
expressed her deepest appreciation and acted as leader in organizing the Romanised
edition to be published and propagated all over the world in commemoration on the
auspicious 72nd Royal Anniversary Birth of His Majesty the King, the Buddhist Sovereign
Monarch of the Thai Nation, in Buddhist Era 2542 (1999).
(iv)

I would, therefore, like to offer commendation for this profound meritorious act.
May happiness and peace pervade the whole universe through the omnipotent power
of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṁgha, through the omnipotent power of the
Pāḷi Tipiṭaka with 84,000 Dhammakhandhas, through the omnipotent power of Phra
Syāmadevādhirāja, the Guardian Deity of Siam, and through the omnipotent power of
the highest god brahma and deities of the whole universe. May Their Majesties, King
Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Dhamma Protector and Queen Sirikit of Thailand, who
are both endowed with benevolent and excellent qualities and ever-firmly devoted to
Buddhasāsana, and all the members of royal lineage, be blessed with longevity, happiness
and peace.

May the highest brahma gods and deities, as well as human and all beings,
joyously celebrate and bless those who have piously donated money and kind toward this
profound meritorious act of preparation the complete Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman
Script4 published in the Kingdom of Thailand, the first of its kind in the world, for their
happiness and prosperity, now and always.

His Holiness Somdet Phra Ñāṇasaṁvara

The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand

20 October Buddhist Era 2542 (1999),

amended, 25 January Buddhist Era 2545 (2002)
Bovornives Vihāra, Bangkok.

4
The first three inaugural sets were graciously presented as gifts of Dhamma in 2005 by Her Royal Highness
Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, the Royal Matriarch of Thailand,
to the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Vice Chancellor of
Uppsala University in Uppsala, Kingdom of Sweden, and President of the Constitutional Court of the
Kingdom of Thailand in Bangkok.

See Royal Message of the Tipiṭaka Presentation in Tipiṭaka Studies Reference 2007.