Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Having understood that this body is like foam, having
realized its mirage-like nature,
having cut off Mara's flower-tipped arrows, one should
make himself invisible to the King of Death.
phena+upamaj
kayam imaj
viditva marici+dhammaj
abhisambudhano
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N.m. Adj.m.
N.m. Pron.m. V.ger. N.f.
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List of Abbreviations
chetvana marassa
papupphakani a+dassanaj
maccu+rajassa gacche
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V.ger. N.m.
N.n. neg.
N.n. N.m. N.m.
V.act.
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phen'upamaj:
phen’upama-,
Adj.: similar to foam. A compound of:
phena-,
N.m.: foam, froth.
upama-, Adj.: similar, -like.
Euphonic combination: phena
+ upama = phen’upama.
Acc.Sg.m. = phen’upamaj.
kayam: kaya-, N.m.: body. Acc.Sg. = kayam.
imaj: idaj, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.m. = imaj.
viditva, V.ger.: having known, having understood. The verb root is vid- (to know).
List of Abbreviations
maricidhammaj:
maricidhamma-, N.m.: having the nature
of mirage.
marici-,
N.f.: mirage, shimmer, glitter.
dhamma-, N.m.: here not as
the Dharma (Buddha's Teaching), but rather in its
different meaning: nature.
Acc.Sg. = maricidhammaj.
abhisambudhano, V.ger.: having realized. The verb root is budh- (to wake, to understand) with the prefixes abhi- (over) and sam- (altogether).
chetvana, V.ger.: having destroyed, having cut off. The verb root is chid- (to cut off).
marassa: mara-, N.m.: Mara, personified death, the Evil One, devil. Gen.Sg. = marassa.
List of Abbreviations
papupphakani: papupphaka-, Adj.: flowered. Meaning: the arrows of Mara (of passion, hatred and ignorance) have flowers as their tips. Derived from the word puppha-, N.n.: flower, with the prefix pa- ("in front") and suffix -ka- (adjective suffix). Here as N.n.: flower-tipped arrows. Nom.Pl. = papupphakani.
adassanaj: adassana-,
N.n.: invisibility, not seeing. It is a negated (by the negative prefix
a-) word dassana-, N.n.: seeing, which is derived from the
verb root das- (to see).
Acc.Sg. = adassanaj.
maccurajassa:
maccuraja-, N.m.: the king of death,
Mara. The compound of:
maccu-, N.m.: death.
rajan-,
N.m.: king. The compound form of rajan
is raja-.
Gen.Sg. = maccurajassa.
gacche, V.: should go, let him go. The verb root is gam- (to go). 3.Sg.act.opt. = gacche.
List of Abbreviations
There are four rather separate sentences
in this verse, although the last one can be considered as the main sentence.
They are:
1) phen'upamaj
kayam imaj viditva
(having understood that this body is like foam). The subject is omitted.
Any third person singular personal pronoun can be used. The verb is in
the gerundive, viditva (having understood).
The main object is the noun kayaj
(body, accusative singular). It has two attributes, imaj
(this, accusative singular) and phen’upamaj
(like foam, accusative singular).
2) maricidhammaj
abhisambudhano (having realized its mirage-like
nature). The verb is again in the gerundive, abhisambudhano
(having realized). The object is the word maricidhammaj
(mirage-like nature, accusative singular).
3) chetvana
marassa papupphakani
(having cut off Mara's flower-tipped arrows). Again, the verb is a gerundive,
chetvana (having cut off). The object
is the noun papupphakani (flower-tipped
[arrows], nominative plural) with an attribute, the noun marassa
(Mara's, genitive singular).
4) adassanaj
maccurajassa gacche (one should make himself
invisible to the King of Death). The verb is in the optative, gacche
(3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the
noun adassanaj (to the invisibility,
accusative singular) with an attribute, the word maccurajassa
(of the King of Death, genitive singular).
A certain monk obtained his meditation
subject from the Buddha. He went to the forest and practiced diligently.
But for some reason he made very little progress and was not happy. He
set out on a journey back to tell the Buddha about his difficulties and
to obtain another meditation subject.
But on the way he saw a mirage. He
realized, that a mirage is only an illusion of water and that also his
body is an illusion as well. He fixed his mind on this understanding and
continued with his meditation.
Later he went for a bath to a river
and there he saw the foam, how it was insubstantial and breaking up quickly.
Thus he further realized the impermanent nature of the body.
The Buddha then sent him his image
and told him to keep up the meditation this way. The monk attained the
arahantship and escaped the King of Death forever.
Word pronunciation:
phen'upamaj
phena
upamaj
kayam
imaj
viditva
maricidhammaj
marici
dhammaj
abhisambudhano
chetvana
marassa
papupphakani
adassanaj
maccurajassa
maccu
rajassa
gacche