Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
A fool gains knowledge altogether for his harm.
It kills his fortune; it destroys his head.
yavad
eva anatthaya battaj
balassa jayati
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Rel.Adv. part. N.m.
N.n. N.m. V.med.in.
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3.Sg.pres.
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List of Abbreviations
hanti balassa
sukkajsaj muddham
assa vipatayaj
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V.act.in. N.m.
N.m. N.m. Pron.m.
Adj.n.
3.Sg.pres. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.
Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
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yavad, Rel.Adv.: as long as, as far as (also spelled yava).
eva, part.: just, only.
The phrase yavad-eva
can be translated as: altogether, in short, indeed.
anatthaya:
anattha-, N.m.: disadvantage, loss, misfortune, harm. It is the
word attha-, N.m.: gain, advantage, profit, negated by the negative
prefix an-.
Dat.Sg. = anatthaya.
battaj:
batta-, N.n.: knowledge. It is a noun
derived from the verb root ba- (to
know).
Nom.Sg. = battaj.
List of Abbreviations
balassa:
bala-, Adj.: childish, young. As an
N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person.
Gen.Sg. = balassa.
jayati, V.: is born, arises. The verb root is jan- (to produce). 3.Sg.med.in.pres. = jayati or jayate.
hanti, V.: kills. The verb root is han-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = hanti.
balassa: see above.
List of Abbreviations
sukkajsaj:
sukkajsa-, N.m.: bright lot, fortune.
It is a compound of:
sukka-, Adj.: clear, bright,
pure.
ajsa-,
N.m.: point, corner, side.
Acc.Sg. = sukkajsaj.
muddham: muddha-, N.m.: head. Acc.Sg. = muddham.
assa: idam-,Pron.: it. Gen.Sg.m. = assa (his).
vipatayaj: vipatayant-, Adj.: destroying, tearing open. It is an ap.pr.p. of the verb vipatayati (to destroy, to tear open). This verb is a causative form of the verb vipatati (to fall to pieces). The verb root is pat- (to fall) with the prefix vi- (apart). Nom.Sg.n. = vipatayaj.
List of Abbreviations
The first line of this verse forms
the first sentence. Here the subject is battaj
(knowledge, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun balassa
(fool's, genitive singular). The verb is jayati
(is born, 3rd person, singular, medium, indicative, present
tense). It has an attribute, the noun anatthaya
(for harm, dative singular). This noun has an attribute, the phrase yavad-eva
(only, altogether).
The second line consists of two loosely
connected sentences. The first is hanti balassa
sukkajsaj ([it]
kills fool's fortune). Here, the subject is omitted, the subject from the
previous sentence (battaj)
is implied. The verb is hanti (kills, 3rd person, singular,
active, indicative, present tense). The object is sukkajsaj
(fortune, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the noun balassa
(fool's, genitive singular). In the second part, the subject is again omitted
(again, the noun battaj
is implied). The active present participle vipatayaj
(destroys, nominative singular) serves as a verb in this sentence. The
object is the noun muddham (head, accusative singular). It has an
attribute, the pronoun assa (his, genitive singular).
Venerable Moggallana
once saw a peta-ghost on one of his alms rounds. The Buddha then related
the story about this particular ghost. He said, that a long time ago he
was a man very skilful in throwing stones. He studied this art for a long
time and then he asked his teacher for permission to try his skills. His
teacher warned him not to hit cows or people - he would have to pay compensations
to the owner of the cow or the relatives of that person.
This foolish man then went out and
saw a holy man. Since the holy man had no relatives, he thought that this
would be a good practice target. So he threw stones at the holy man and
killed him. The public then became very angry and killed the man in turn.
Besides, he was reborn many times in very miserable states. In this present
existence, he was reborn as a peta-ghost whose head was being hit with
hot hammers.
The Buddha then explained by this
verse that a fool gains knowledge only for his misfortune, because he does
not know how to use it properly and certainly it will cause him some harm.
Word pronunciation:
yavad
eva
anatthaya
battaj
balassa
jayati
hanti
sukkajsaj
sukka
ajsaj
muddham
assa
vipatayaj