Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Just like a beautiful flower, colorful but without smell,
is a well said speech of somebody, who does not act accordingly.
yatha
pi ruciraj pupphaj
vannavantaj a+gandhakaj
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Rel.Adv. conj. Adj.n.
N.n. N.n.
neg. Adj.n.
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List of Abbreviations
evaj subhasita
vaca
a+phala
hoti a+kubbato
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Adv. Adj.f.
N.f. neg. Adj.f. V.act.in.
neg. Adj.m.
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Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
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yatha, Rel.Adv.: just as.
pi, conj.: also, too.
ruciraj: rucira-, Adj.: beautiful, pleasant. Nom.Sg.n. = ruciraj.
pupphaj: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Nom.Sg. = pupphaj.
List of Abbreviations
vannavantaj: vannavant-, Adj.: having color, colorful. It is the word vanna-, N.m.: color, with the possessive suffix -vant-. Nom.Sg.n. = vannavantaj (the more usual is vannavaj, but for the sake of the meter, this form was used here).
agandhakaj: agandhaka-,
Adj.: not smelling. Negated (by the negative prefix a-) word gandhaka-,
Adj.: smelling. This word is derived from the word gandha-, N.m.:
smell by adding the adjective suffix -ka-.
Nom.Sg.n. = agandhakaj.
evaj, Adv.: thus, so.
List of Abbreviations
subhasita: subhasita-, Adj.: well said. It is the word bhasita (well said, the p.p. of the verb bhas-, to speak) with the prefix su- (good, well). Nom.Sg.f. = subhasita.
vaca: vaca-, N.f.: speech (derived from the verb root vac-, to speak). Nom.Sg. = vaca.
aphala: aphala-, Adj.: fruitless. It is the word phala-, N.n.: fruit, with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.f. = aphala.
hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhu- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.
akubbato: akubbant-, Adj.: not doing. It is the word kubbant-, Adj.: doing, which is an a.pr.p. of the verb root kar- (to do), negated by the negative prefix a-. Gen.Sg.m.= akubbato.
List of Abbreviations
The two lines of this verse form two
sentences. In the first one, the subject is pupphaj
(flower, nominative singular) with three attributes: 1) ruciraj
(beautiful, nominative singular), 2) vannavantaj
(colorful, nominative singular) and 3) agandhakaj
(without smell, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the
verb "to be" (hoti from the second line). The relative adverb
yatha (just as), which forms a quite common
phrase yatha pi (same meaning) with
the conjunction pi (also), connects this sentence to the next one.
In the second sentence, the subject
is the word vaca
(speech, nominative singular), with two attributes, the adjective subhasita
(well said, nominative singular) and the active present participle akubbato
(of the not doing one, genitive singular). The verb is hoti (is,
3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The
object is the adjective aphala (fruitless,
nominative singular). The adverb evaj
(thus, so) connects this sentence to the previous one.
A certain Buddha's disciple named Chattapani
has attained the second stage of Awakenment. Once, while he was listening
to the Buddha's discourse, the king Pasenadi came to the monastery. Chattapani
did not get up, because by paying homage to the king he would disrespect
the Buddha. The king was very unhappy about that, thinking that Chattapani
offended him. But the Buddha explained to the king what Chattapani
meant. The king was impressed and asked Chattapani
to teach Dharma to his queens. But he refused, saying that monks should
teach Dharma, not mere lay disciples.
The Buddha then assigned Ananda
to teach them. After some time the Buddha asked, how much progress did
the queens make. Ananda replied, that the
queen Mallika was learning very quickly and
seriously, the queen Vasabha Khattiya
was not paying attention and therefore made no progress.
The Buddha replied by this verse,
saying that only those, who learn diligently and then practice what they
learned, can benefit from the Dharma.
Word pronunciation:
yatha
pi
ruciraj
pupphaj
vannavantaj
agandhakaj
evaj
subhasita
vaca
aphala
hoti
akubbato