Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
A fool can attend on a wise man even for whole his life,
he will not understand the Dharma, like a spoon does
not know the taste of the soup.
yava + jivam
pi ce balo
panditaj payirupasati
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Rel.Adv. N.n. part. part. N.m.
N.m. V.act.in.
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Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
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List of Abbreviations
na so
dhammaj vijanati
dabbi supa+rasaj
yatha
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neg. Pron.m. N.m.
V.act.in. N.f. N.m.
N.m. Rel.Adv.
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3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg.
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yavajivam,
Adv.: all one's life, for a life time. It is a compound of:
yava,
Rel.Adv.: as long as.
jiva-,
N.n.: life. Nom.Sg. = jivam.
As an Adv.: yavajivam.
pi, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled api).
ce, part.: if.
balo: bala-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person. Nom.Sg. = balo.
panditaj: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Acc.Sg. = panditaj.
List of Abbreviations
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.
na, neg.: not.
so: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = so.
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.
List of Abbreviations
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.
dabbi: dabbi-, N.f.: spoon, ladle. Nom.Sg. = dabbi.
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 balo (fool, 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 sentence is introduced and connected
to the second sentence by the adverb yavajivam
(for a whole life). There are two particles, pi (also, even) and
ce (if) which form a phrase pi ce (even if).
The subject of the second sentence
is the personal pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is
vijanati
(understands, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object
is the noun dhammaj (Dharma, accusative
singular). There is a clause in this sentence, dabbi
suparasaj yatha
(like a spoon the taste of the soup). The subject here is the noun dabbi
(spoon, nominative singular) and the object the noun suparasaj
(the taste of the soup, accusative singular). The verb is omitted in the
clause; the negated verb na vijanati
(does not know) from the main sentence is implied. The relative adverb
yatha (just like) connects the clause
to the main sentence.
There was a monk named Udayi,
who was very ignorant. He used to sit on the platform from which the best
teachers delivered the discourses. Once a group of traveling monks took
him for a learned monk and gave him some questions on the Dharma. But Udayi
could not answer, because he actually did not know anything about the Dharma.
The monks were surprised that somebody can stay close to the Buddha for
such a long time and still know so very little.
The Buddha explained by this verse
that although a fool associates with somebody wise even for whole his life,
he still does not realize the Dharma, just as a spoon can never taste the
soup, although it is used it for eating the very soup.
Word pronunciation:
yavajivam
yava
jivam
pi
ce
balo
panditaj
payirupasati
na
so
dhammaj
vijanati
dabbi
suparasaj
supa
rasaj
yatha