Understanding the Dhammacakka Pavattana Sutta : หน้า 16/263

emonies. This is especially true of the ceremonies held on Asālha Pūjā Day, when it is a traditional duty for Buddhist monks to celebrate the anniversary of the preaching of the Dhammacakka Pavattana Sutta by chanting the Sutta for the benefit of the laypeople or giving commentarial teachings about it. This tradition is one that has been carried down to the present day. It is regrettable that in the present day, it is becoming more and more difficult to find unabridged commentaries on the Dhammacakka Pavattana Sutta. The present author was thus privileged to obtain a copy of the Sāratthasamuccaya reprinted by H.M. King Rama IX of Thailand on the occasion of the cremation held at Wat Thepsirindaravas of His Late Holiness the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand Phra Ariya-vamsāgatasānā (Wās Wasan Mahathera) on 18 March 1989. The Sāratthasamuccaya itself is a translation of a text composed some 800 years ago. The original Thai translation appears to have been made during the reign of H.M. King Rama III and comprised twenty-two verses. The commentary on the Dhammacakka-pavattana Sutta was to be found in the twenty-first of these verses. Apart from offering a detailed explanation of the Dhammacakka-pavattana Sutta, the translation is notable for a use of language so rich and impressive that it could easily qualify in itself as a Buddhist literary masterpiece. Having read this translation of the Dhammacakka-pavattana Sutta, it was the dearest wish of the present author to make this book more readily accessible to the Buddhist community, to facilitate the implementation of this Sutta’s message into personal practice in the footsteps of the Buddha and the arahants. Modern students of the original