Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The scent of flowers, sandal, tagara or jasmine
does not go against the wind.
The scent of true ones goes against the wind. The true
person pervades all directions.
na puppha+gandho pati+vatam
eti na candanaj
tagara+mallika va
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neg. N.n. N.m.
ind. Adv. V.act.in. neg. N.n.
N.n. N.f. conj.
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3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
sataj
ca gandho pati+vatam
eti sabba
disa sap+puriso
pavayati
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Adj.m. conj. N.m.
ind. Adv. V.act.in. Adj.f.
N.f. Adj. N.m. V.act.in.
Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg.
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na, neg.: not.
pupphagandho: pupphagandha-, N.m.: the scent
of a flower. It is a compound of:
puppha-, N.n.: flower.
gandha-, N.m.: scent.
Nom.Sg. = pupphagandho.
pativatam,
Adv.: against the wind. It is a compound of:
pati-,
pref.ind.: against.
vata-,
N.m.: wind.
As an Adv.: pativatam.
List of Abbreviations
eti: goes. The verb root is i- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres = eti.
na: see above.
candanaj: candana-, N.n.: sandal. Nom.Sg. = candanaj.
tagaramallika: tagaramallika-,
N.f.:
tagara-, N.n: the incense obtained
from a kind of shrub
(in Latin: Tabernaemontana coronaria).
mallika-,
N.f.: jasmine.
Nom.Sg. = tagaramallika.
List of Abbreviations
va, conj.: or.
sataj: sant-, Adj.: real, good, true. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Thus sant- means literally means "existing", "being". Gen.Pl. = sataj.
ca, conj.: and.
gandho: gandha-, N.m.: scent. Nom.Sg. = gandho.
pativatam: see above.
eti: see above.
List of Abbreviations
sabba: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Acc.Pl.f. = sabba.
disa: disa-, N.f: direction. Acc.Pl. = disa.
sappuriso: sappurisa-, N.m.: a true person.
It is a compound of:
sat-, Adj.: true, good, real.
This is a compound form of the word sant- (see above).
purisa-, N.m.: person.
Euphonic combination: sat + purisa = sappurisa.
Nom.Sg. = sappuriso.
pavayati, V.: to pervade, to blow forth, to emit (scent). The verb root is va- (to blow) with the prefix pa- (strengthening, "forth"). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pavayati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse forms four syntactically
separated sentences. They are:
1) na pupphagandho pativatam
eti (the scent of flowers does not go against the wind). The subject
of this sentence is the noun pupphagandho (scent of flowers, nominative
singular). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person, singular,
active, indicative, present tense), which is negated by the negative particle
na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb pativatam
(against the wind).
2) na candanaj
tagaramallika va
(nor [does] tagara or jasmine). There are two subjects in this sentence,
candanaj (sandal, nominative singular)
and tagaramallika (tagara and jasmine,
nominative singular). They are connected by the conjunction va
(or). There is a negative particle na (not) in this sentence, which
negates the verb eti (goes) from the previous sentence. In this
sentence the verb is omitted.
3) sataj
ca gandho pativatam
eti (the scent of true ones goes against the wind). The subject here
is the noun gandho (smell, nominative singular) with an attribute,
the adjective sataj (of the true ones,
genitive plural). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person,
singular, active, indicative, present tense) with an attribute, the adverb
pativatam
(against the wind). The conjunction ca (and) connects this sentence
to the two previous ones.
4) sabba
disa sappuriso pavayati
(the true person pervades all directions). The subject is the noun sappuriso
(true person, nominative singular). The verb is pavayati
(pervades, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). The object is the noun disa
(directions, accusative plural) with the adjective sabba
(all, accusative plural) as an attribute.
Venerable Ananda
was once sitting in meditation and he was pondering the problem of scent.
All the known scents - perfumes, flowers, roots etc. go only with the wind.
No scent can go against the wind. Is there any scent at all that can go
against the wind?
He asked the Buddha about it. The
Buddha said that there exists such thing. A person, who takes refuge in
the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, observes the moral precepts and is generous,
is really worthy of praise. The "scent", or the reputation, of such a person
spreads far and wide, with the wind and against it. Such a person is famous
everywhere and people praise him.
Word pronunciation:
na
pupphagandho
puppha
gandho
pativatam
pati
vatam
eti
candanaj
tagaramallika
tagara
mallika
va
sataj
ca
sabba
disa
sappuriso
pavayati