An Awgatha (ဩကာသ; from
Pali: okāsa), sometimes known as the common Buddhist prayer is a formulaic
Burmese Buddhist prayer that is recited to initiate acts of
Buddhist devotion, including
obeisance to the
Buddha and
Buddhist monks and the
water libation ritual.[1] The term okāsa literally means "permission" in
Pali,[2] and is used to request permission to pay homage, seek forgiveness of any intentional and unintentional offenses, and precedes the undertaking of the
Five Precepts.[3][4] Minor variations of this
Burmese language prayer exist from one
Buddhist monastery to another. Okāsa explicitly references the
gadaw of the Five Infinite Venerables (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, parents and teachers).[5]
In order that any action I may have committed against the
Three Jewels (including my parents and teachers) either physically, verbally and mentally may be effaced, and in order that I may acquire merit which will bestow upon me longevity, health, freedom from dangers and others; I raise my joined hands in reverence to the forehead and worship, honor, look at, and humbly pay homage to the Three Jewels: the
Buddha, the
Dhamma, and the
Samgha (including my parents and teachers) once, twice, and three times.
As a result of this meritorious act of prostration may I be freed at all times from the
woeful realms, the three kinds of catastrophes, the eight kinds of wrong circumstances, the five kinds of enemies, the four kinds of misfortunes, the five kinds of loss, the ninety six kinds of ailments, and the sixty two kinds of wrong views; and quickly attain
the Path, the Fruition, and the Noble Dhamma of
Nibbāna.
^Spiro, Melford (1982). Buddhism and society: a great tradition and its Burmese vicissitudes. University of California Press. p. 210.
ISBN978-0-520-04672-6.