Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Long is the night for a wakeful; long is a yojana for
a tired.
Long is the Samsara for the fools who do not know
the true Dharma.
digha
jagarato ratti
dighaj
santassa yojanaj
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Adj.f. Adj.m.
N.f. N.n.
Adj.m. N.n.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
digho balanaj
sajsaro saddhammaj
a+vijanataj
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Adj.m. N.m.
N.m. N.m.
neg. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.
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digha:digha-, Adj.: long. Nom.Sg.f. = digha.
jagarato:
jagarant-, Adj.: wakeful, awake. It
is an a.pr.p. of the verb jagar- (to
be awake).
Gen.Sg.m. = jagarato.
ratti: ratti-, N.f.: night. Nom.Sg. = ratti.
dighaj: digha-, Adj.: long. Nom.Sg.n. = dighaj.
santassa: santa-, Adj.: tired. It is a p.p.
of the verb sam- (to be weary, to be tired).
Gen.Sg.m. = santassa.
List of Abbreviations
yojanaj: yojana-, N.n.: a measure of length, as much as can be traveled with one yoke of oxen. A distance of about 10-11 km. Nom.Sg. = yojanaj.
digho: digha-, Adj.: long. Nom.Sg.m. = digho.
balanaj:
bala-, Adj.: childish, young. As an
N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person.
Gen.Pl. = balanaj.
sajsaro:
sajsara-,
N.m.: Samsara, perpetual wandering, round of rebirth. It is derived from
the verb root sar- (to flow, to move along) with the prefix saj-
(together). Thus sajsarati = to move
about continuously.
Nom.Sg. = sajsaro.
List of Abbreviations
saddhammaj: saddhamma-,
N.m.: true Dharma. It is a compound of:
sat-, Adj.: good, true. Original
meaning: existing. The full form (sant-) is an a.pr.p.
of the verb as- (to be). The
compound form of sant- = sat-.
dhamma-, N.m.: Dharma, Buddha's
teaching.
Euphonic combination: sat- + dhamma- =
saddhamma-.
Acc.Sg. = saddhammaj.
avijanataj: avijanant-, Adj.: not understanding. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word vijanant-, Adj.: knowing, which is an a.pr.p. of the verb ba- (to know) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). Gen.Pl.m. = avijanataj.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of three syntactically
separated sentences.
The first sentence is digha
jagarato ratti (long is the night for
a wakeful). Here, the subject is the word ratti (night, nominative
singular). It has the adjective digha
(long, nominative singular) as an attribute. The verb is omitted, implying
the verb "to be". The object is the active present participle jagarato
(for the wakeful, genitive singular).
The second sentence is dighaj
santassa yojanaj (long is a yojana for
a tired). The subject is the word yojanaj
(yojana, nominative singular) with the adjective dighaj
(long, nominative singular) as an attribute. The verb is again omitted,
as before implying the verb "to be". The object is the past participle
santassa (for a tired, genitive singular).
The third sentence is digho
balanaj
sajsaro saddhammaj
avijanataj
(long is the samsara for the fools who do not know the true Dharma). The
subject is the noun sajsaro
(samsara, nominative singular) with an attribute, the adjective digho
(long, nominative singular). As before, the verb is "to be", therefore
it is not really needed and is omitted. The object is the noun balanaj
(for the fools, genitive plural). It has an attribute, the active present
participle avijanataj
(for the not knowing, genitive plural). This word has itself an attribute,
the noun saddhammaj (the true Dharma,
accusative singular).
King Pasenadi of Kosala once saw a
beautiful woman in the city. He instantly fell in love with her. He found
out that she was already married and so he gave her husband a job in the
palace. Then the king sent the young man on an impossible mission. He told
him to collect some lotus flowers and red earth from the underground world
and to return to the city the same day. He thought of course that the man
will never complete the task and so will never dare to come back. Thus
the king could take the wife to himself.
The young man set out on his mission.
On the way he shared his food with some traveler. Then he threw the rest
of the food to the river and called the guardian spirits, telling them
that he shares with them his merit obtained from sharing the food with
others. The guardian spirit of the river then brought him the flowers and
earth from the underworld.
The young man returned to the city
only to find the gates closed. The king had the city gates closed early
in fear that the man will complete the task in time. So he put the flowers
and earth on the ground, declared loudly that his mission is complete and
went for the night to the monastery of Jetavana.
The king was obsessed with his desire
for the young woman, so he could not sleep that night. He heard some strange
sounds. In the morning he went to see the Buddha about them. The Buddha
told him that the sounds he heard came from the men who desired others'
wives and now suffer in hell.
The king realized foolishness of his
actions and reflected that now he knows how long is the night for the sleepless.
Also the young man realized how long is the journey for one who is tired.
The Buddha told them by this verse
that longest is the Samsara for those who are foolish and do not know the
Dharma.
Word pronunciation:
digha
jagarato
ratti
dighaj
santassa
yojanaj
digho
balanaj
sajsaro
saddhammaj
sad
dhammaj
avijanataj