Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Something else are worldly gains, something else is the
path leading to the Nirvana.
Thus let a monk, the Buddha's student, having fully understood
this,
not rejoice at worship, but let him devote himself to
solitude.
abba
hi labh+'upanisa
abba nibbana+gamini
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Adj.f. part. N.m.
N.f. Adj.f. N.m.
Adj.f.
Nom.Sg. |
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Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
evam etaj abhibbaya
bhikkhu buddhassa savako
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Adv. Pron.n. V.ger. N.m.
N.m. N.m.
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Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
sakkaraj
na abhinandeyya vivekam anubruhaye
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N.m. neg.
V.act. N.m.
V.act.
Acc.Sg. |
3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
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abba: abba-, Adj.: other, different. Nom.Sg.f. = abba.
hi, part.: indeed, truly.
labh'upanisa:
labh'upanisa-,
N.f.: means of gain. It is a compound of:
labha-,
N.m.: gain, possession.
upanisa-,
N.f.: means, cause.
Euphonic combination: labha-
+ upanisa- = labh'upanisa-.
Nom.Sg. = labh'upanisa.
abba: see above.
List of Abbreviations
nibbanagamini:
nibbanagamin-,
Adj.: going or leading to the Nirvana. It is a compound of:
nibbana-,
N.n.: Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism.
gamin-,
Adj.: going, leading to. It is derived from the verb gam- (to go).
Nom.Sg.f. = nibbanagamini.
evam, Adv.: thus, in this way.
etaj: etad-, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.n. = etaj.
abhibbaya, V.ger.: having fully understood. The verb root is ba- (to know) with the prefix abhi- (intensifying sense).
bhikkhu: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Nom.Sg. = bhikkhu.
List of Abbreviations
buddhassa: buddha-, Adj.: awakened. Here as a title, N.m.: Awakened One, the Buddha. P.p. of the verb budh- (to awaken). Gen.Sg.: buddhassa.
savako: savaka-, N.m.: , "listener", student, pupil. It is derived from the verb root su- (to hear, to listen). Nom.Sg. = savako.
sakkaraj: sakkara-, N.m.: worship, honor. Acc.Sg. = sakkaraj.
na, neg.: not.
List of Abbreviations
abhinandeyya, V.: let him rejoice at, let him find
pleasure in. The verb root is nand- (to be happy, to delight in)
with the prefix abhi- (intensifying sense).
3.Sg.act.opt. = abhinandeyya.
Euphonic combination: na + abhinandeyya
= n'abhinandeyya.
vivekam: viveka-, N.m.: solitude, seclusion. Acc.Sg. = vivekam.
anubruhaye, V.: let him practice, devote. The verb root is brah- (to develop) with the prefix anu- (along, to). 3.Sg.act.opt = anubruhaye.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of two syntactically
separated sentences. The first line forms the first sentence; the second
and third lines form the second sentence.
The first sentence has two paratactic
parts. The first is abba hi labh’upanisa
(something else are worldly gains). The subject here is labh’upanisa
(means of gain, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the
verb "to be". This verb has an attribute, the adjective abba
(different, nominative singular). This word is strengthened by the particle
hi (indeed). The second part is abba
nibbanagamini
(something else is [the path] leading to the Nirvana). The subject here
is the adjective nibbanagamini
(leading to the Nirvana, nominative singular). The verb is again omitted;
the verb "to be" is implied. This verb has the adjective abba
(different, nominative singular) for an attribute.
The second sentence consists also
of two main segments. The first is evam etaj
abhibbaya bhikkhu buddhassa savako
(thus a monk, the Buddha's student, having fully understood this). The
subject of this sentence is the noun bhikkhu (monk, nominative singular).
It has an attribute, the noun savako
(student, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the noun
buddhassa (the Buddha's, genitive singular). The verb is in the
gerundive, abhibbaya (having understood).
The object is the pronoun etaj (this,
accusative singular) with its attribute, the adverb evam (thus,
in such way).
The second segment (sakkaraj
n'abhinandeyya vivekam anubruhaye
- let him not rejoice at worship, but let him devote himself to solitude)
contains two paratactic parts: 1) sakkaraj
n'abhinandeyya (let him not rejoice at
worship). The subject is omitted, implying the subject of the previous
segment (bhikkhu). The verb is abhinandeyya (let him rejoice,
3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the
negative particle na (not). The object is the noun sakkaraj
(worship, accusative singular). 2) vivekam anubruhaye
(let him devote himself to solitude). The subject is again the noun bhikkhu
from the main segment (here omitted). The verb is anubruhaye
(let him practice, 3rd person, singular, active, optative).
The object is the noun vivekam (solitude, accusative singular).
In the city of Savatthi
lived a well-known man. He often offered alms food to the monks and especially
to Venerable Sariputta. He had a son named
Tissa. At the age of seven, the young boy Tissa became a novice under Sariputta.
While living at the Jetavana monastery, relatives would visit him often
and bring him many presents. Soon he was tired of these visits so he took
a subject of meditation from the Buddha and moved away to the forest monastery.
While there, he devoted himself to meditation. Whenever villagers offered
him alms, he said just, "May you be well and happy!" After three months
of meditation he attained arahantship.
Then Venerable Sariputta,
Moggallana, and other senior monks paid visit
to Tissa. Villagers requested Sariputta to
deliver a discourse, but he let speak Tissa instead. Villagers were not
pleased, because they never heard anything from Tissa except for the words
"May you be well and happy!" They thought he did not really understand
Dharma.
But Tissa gave a discourse and spoke
for the whole night. Villagers were impressed and felt lucky that they
have such a wise monk with them. But still they were a bit angry with him
for not speaking earlier.
Then the Buddha came to the village
and told the villagers how lucky they were. If it was not for Tissa, would
they all, the Buddha and so many senior monks, come to the village? The
villagers realized their luck and did not think about the past any more.
Word pronunciation:
abba
hi
labh'upanisa
labha
upanisa
nibbanagamini
nibbana
gamini
evam
etaj
abhibbaya
bhikkhu
buddhassa
savako
sakkaraj
na
abhinandeyya
vivekam
anubruhaye