Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
An intelligent person can attend on a wise man even for
a second,
he will quickly understand the Dharma, like a tongue
knows the taste of the soup.
muhuttam api ce vibbu
panditaj payirupasati
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N.m. part. part.
N.m. N.m. V.act.in.
Acc.Sg. |____|
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
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List of Abbreviations
khippaj dhammaj
vijanati
jivha supa+rasaj
yatha
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Adv.
N.m. V.act.in. N.f.
N.m. N.m. Rel.Adv.
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Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg.
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muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.
api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).
ce, part.: if.
vibbu: vibbu-, Adj.: intelligent. As a N.m.: intelligent person. Nom.Sg. = vibbu.
panditaj: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Acc.Sg. = panditaj.
payirupasati,
V.: to attend on, "to sit close around". The verb root is as-
(to sit) with prefixes pari- (around) and upa- (close to,
near).
Euphonic combination: pari + upa = payirupa-.
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = payirupasati.
List of Abbreviations
khippaj, Adv.: quickly. It is derived from the word khippa-, Adj.: quick, fast.
dhammaj: dhamma-,
N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to
hold.
Thus dhamma "holds the world together". Acc.Sg.
= dhammaj.
vijanati, V.: to understand, to realize. The verb root is ba- or ja- (to know) with the prefix vi- (intensifying prefix). 3.Sg.act.in.pres.: vijanati.
jivha: jivha-, N.f.: tongue. Nom.Sg. = jivha.
suparasaj:
suparasa-, N. : taste of the soup.
It is a compound of:
supa-,
N.m.: soup, sauce.
rasa-, N.m.: flavor, taste.
Acc.Sg. = suparasaj.
yatha, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.
List of Abbreviations
Two lines of this verse form two related
sentences.
In the first sentence, the subject
is the noun/adjective vibbu (intelligent
person, nominative singular). The verb is payirupasati
(attends on, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). The object is the noun panditaj
(a wise man, accusative singular). The verb has an attribute, the noun
muhuttam (for a second, accusative singular). There are two particles,
api (also, even) and ce (if) which form a phrase api ce
(even if).
The subject of the second sentence
is omitted, implying the subject of the previous sentence (vibbu).
The verb is vijanati
(understands, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). It has an attribute, the adverb khippaj
(quickly). The object is the noun dhammaj
(Dharma, accusative singular). There is a clause in this sentence, jivha
suparasaj yatha
(like a tongue the taste of the soup). The subject here is the noun jivha
(tongue, nominative singular) and the object the noun suparasaj
(the taste of the soup, accusative singular). The verb is omitted in the
clause; the verb vijanati
(knows) from the main sentence is implied. The relative adverb yatha
(just like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
In the city of Paveyyaka
there lived a group of young friends. Once they went to a forest and took
a courtesan with them. While they were resting, the courtesan ran away
with their money. While they searched for her in the forest, they met the
Buddha. They stopped looking for the woman and listened to the Buddha's
teachings. Immediately they all became monks and followed the Buddha to
the monastery. They all practiced very diligently and soon (when the Buddha
was delivering one of the discourses), they all became Arahants.
Some other monks were surprised, how
is it possible to attain the arahantship so quickly. The Buddha explained
by this verse, that an intelligent person could quickly realize the Dharma
although he is associated with a wise person only for a very short time
- just as the tongue tastes the soup.
Word pronunciation:
muhuttam
api
ce
vibbu
panditaj
payirupasati
khippaj
dhammaj
vijanati
jivha
suparasaj
supa
rasaj
yatha