Originally, this referred to the chanting of Buddha’s or a bodhisattva’s virtues in the form of poems and verses by Buddhist monks, and now it refers to their chanting of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures during pujas. Pāthaka means“to stop”or“to praise.” Brāhma pāthaka is a form of religious language imbued with a beautiful undulating melody and a complete structure of chanting, including hymns, verses, mantras, and texts. Ancient Indian Buddhism was introduced to China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and gradually fused with Chinese indigenous thought and culture to form Chinese Buddhism. The original chanting form of ancient Indian Buddhism was also gradually adapted to the Chinese context and fused with native Chinese tunes to form brāhma pāthaka with Chinese characteristics, which became an important part of traditional Chinese music. The landmark event of its adaption to the Chinese context was the creation of the brāhma pāthaka by Cao Zhi (192-232) during his trip to Yushan (in present-day Dong’e, Shandong Province), which gave Chinese Buddhist chanting a native tune. Brāhma pāthaka was later applied by monks and lay people in the Western and Eastern Jin dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and has evolved into the art of Chinese brāhma pāthaka, which is still in active use in Buddhist pujas in China today.

Since Buddhism was introduced to China, there have been many translations of Buddhist sutras, but few have transmitted their sounds, probably because Sanskrit is a multisyllabic language and Chinese a monosyllabic one. If Sanskrit music were adopted for chanting scriptures in Chinese, the music would be protracted and the verse short; if Chinese music were used to chant Sanskrit scriptures, the music would be too short and the words too long. Thus there were translations of Buddhist scriptures, while their Sanskrit chant was not taught. It was Cao Zhi, Prince Si of Chen in the Kingdom of Wei, who loved music and first paid attention to the sound of chanting scriptures. He was proficient in music and was also inspired by the magical chanting of the temples he heard at Yushan. So he cut down the wording and created the sound rhythm for Sutra of the Original Endeavor of the Prince, as a guide for learning to chant the sutras. (Shi Huijiao: Biographies of Eminent Monks)

It is the custom in ancient India that all the words of praise to Buddha are called pāthakas. In China, however, the unaccompanied chanting of scriptures is called cyclical recitation, and the chanting to musical accompaniment is called brāhma pāthaka. In the past, all pāthakas in praise of Buddha had a rhythm and could be accompanied by orchestral instruments, but since monks are different from lay people, it is better for the monks to chant with a rhythm without accompaniment. (Shi Huijiao: Biographies of Eminent Monks)