Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Good is the taming of the mind, which is difficult to
restrain, quick,
jumping at whatever it desires. Restrained mind brings
happiness.
dunniggahassa lahuno yattha+kama+nipatino
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Adj.n.
Adj.n. Rel.Adv. N.m. Adj.n.
Gen.Sg.
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Gen.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
cittassa damatho sadhu
cittaj dantaj
sukha+avahaj
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N.n.
N.m. Adv. N.n.
Adj.n. N.m. Adj.n.
Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
Nom.Sg.
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dunniggahassa: dunniggaha-, Adj.: difficult to restrain. The word niggaha-, N.m.: restraining is derived from the verb root gah- (to hold) with the prefix ni- (down). The word is transformed to and adjective by the prefix du- (difficult, bad). The double n is due to the euphonic combination (du + niggaha = dunniggaha). Gen.Sg.n. = dunniggahassa.
lahuno: lahu-, Adj.: light, quick. Gen.Sg.n. = lahuno.
yatthakamanipatino:
yatthakamanipatin-,
Adj: jumping at whatever it desires. It is a complex compound of:
yatthakamaj,
Adv.: according to one's desire. The disappearance of the final -j
is only
an omission, perhaps due to the metrical
requirements. It can be further analyzed as:
yattha,
Rel.Adv.: where.
kama-,
N.m.: desire, pleasure.
nipatin-,
Adj.: falling down, chancing upon. It is derived (by the way of adding
the possessive suffix -in)
from the verb root pat- (fall) with the prefix ni- (down).
Gen.Sg.n. = yatthakamanipatino.
List of Abbreviations
cittassa: citta-, N.n.: mind. Gen.Sg. = cittassa.
damatho: damatha-, N.m.: taming, subduing, restraint, control. Derived from the verb dam- (to restrain, to control, to tame). Nom.Sg. = damatho.
sadhu, Adv.: good, well.
cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind (see also above). Nom.Sg. = cittaj.
List of Abbreviations
dantaj: danta-, Adj.: restrained, tamed, controlled. It is a p.p. of the verb dam- (to restrain, to control, to tame). Nom.Sg.n. = dantaj.
sukh'avahaj:
sukh'avaha-, Adj.: bringing happiness.
A compound of:
sukha-, N.n.: happiness.
avaha-,
Adj.: bringing, causing. Derived from the verb root vah- (to carry)
with
the prefix a-
(towards, to).
Nom.Sg.n. = sukh'avahaj.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of two grammatically
separated sentences. One is: dunniggahassa lahuno yatthakamanipatino
cittassa damatho sadhu (good is the taming
of the mind, which is difficult to restrain, quick, jumping at whatever
it desires). Here the subject is damatho (taming, nominative singular).
The verb is omitted, therefore we have to supply the verb "to be". An attribute
to this verb is the adverb sadhu (well).
The object is the word cittassa (of the mind, genitive singular).
It has three attributes; 1) dunniggahassa (of the difficult to restrain
one), 2) lahuno (of the quick one), 3) yatthakamanipatino
(of the jumping-at-whatever-it-desires one). They all have to agree with
the object and are therefore in genitive singular.
The second sentence is cittaj
dantaj sukh'avahaj
(restrained mind brings happiness). Here the subject is the word cittaj
(mind, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle dantaj
(restrained, nominative singular). The verb is again omitted, the verb
"to be" again being implied. The word sukh'avahaj
(happiness-bringing, nominative singular) forms an attribute to this verb.
Sixty monks received their meditation
subjects from the Buddha and they went to the village of Matika.
There the mother of the village headman, called Matikamata,
built a monastery for them and gave them alms food regularly. So they decided
to spend the Rain Retreat there. She asked them to teach her some Dharma
and they taught her the 32 body parts and awareness of the body's decay.
She practiced diligently and attained the third (last but one) stage of
awakenment. She also attained some supernormal powers; she was able to
read other people's minds. She used this power and saw that the sixty monks
have not so far attained anything. She saw, that they all had potential
for arahantship, but they needed proper food. So she gave them alms food
and soon they all became arahants.
At the end of the retreat they went
back to the Buddha and reported what happened. A certain monk decided to
go to the same village. Matikamata
personally came to the monastery and gave him alms food. He asked her about
her supernormal powers, but she evaded this subject. He got scared that
she will see his impure mind and left the village.
He told the Buddha about his fears,
but the Buddha sent him back, telling him to control his mind under all
circumstances. So the monk went back, thinking only about his meditation
subject. Matikamata
made sure that he had enough alms food and the monk too attained arahantship
soon.
Word pronunciation:
dunniggahassa
lahuno
yatthakamanipatino
yatthakama
nipatino
cittassa
damatho
sadhu
cittaj
dantaj
sukh'avahaj
sukha
avahaj