Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The man who is only gathering flowers, with an attached
mind,
the death will carry away, like a great flood the sleeping
village.
pupphani hi
eva pacinantaj byasatta+manasaj
naraj
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N.n. part. part.
Adj.m. Adj.
N.m. N.m.
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Acc.Sg. |
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
suttaj
gamaj maha+ogho
va maccu adaya
gacchati
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Adj.m. N.m. Adj.
N.m. part. N.m. V.ger.
V.act.in.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. |
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. |
3.Sg.pres.
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pupphani: puppha-, N.n.: flower. By "flowers" are here meant pleasures of the senses. Nom.Pl. = pupphani.
hi, part.: indeed.
eva, part.: just, only.
pacinantaj: pacinant-, Adj.: collecting, gathering. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb pacinati (to gather, to collect), which has the verb root ci- (to heap, to collect) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Acc.Sg.m. = pacinantaj.
List of Abbreviations
byasattamanasaj:
byasattamanasa-, Adj.: with attached
mind. A compound of:
byasatta-,
Adj.: attached, clinging. It is a p.p. of the verb root sajj- (to
be attached)
with the prefixes vi- (intensifying)
and a- (towards).
Euphonic combination: vi- +
a- = vya-.
The change from v- to b- is common in Pali.
manas-, N.m.: mind.
Acc.Sg.m. = byasattamanasaj.
naraj: nara-, N.m.: man. Acc.Sg. = naraj.
suttaj: sutta-,
Adj.: sleeping. It is a p.p. of the verb root sup- (to sleep).
Acc.Sg.m. = suttaj.
gamaj: gama-, N.m.: village. Acc.Sg. = gamaj.
List of Abbreviations
mah'ogho: mah'ogha-, N.m.: great flood.
A compound of:
mahant-, Adj.: big, great.
The compound form: maha-.
ogha-, N.m.: flood.
Euphonic combination: maha-
+ ogha- = mah'ogha-.
Nom.Sg. = mah'ogho.
va, part.: as, like.
maccu: maccu-, N.m.: death. Nom.Sg. = maccu.
adaya,
V.ger.: having taken. The verb root is da-
(to give), with the prefix a- (from).
Thus a- + da-
(to take).
gacchati, V.: goes. The verb root is gam- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = gacchati.
List of Abbreviations
The phrase adaya
gacchati can be literally translated as "goes, having taken", but rather
has the meaning of "carries away".
The subject of this verse is the noun
maccu (death, nominative singular). The verbal phrase adaya
gacchati (having taken, goes) serves as the verb in this sentence.
The object is the noun naraj (man,
accusative singular). The object has two attributes, byasattamanasaj
(with an attached mind, accusative singular) and pacinantaj
(gathering, accusative singular). This last word has its own attribute,
the noun pupphani (flowers, accusative
plural). The two particles, hi (indeed) and eva (just, only)
are here mainly for metrical purposes.
There is a subordinate clause in this
sentence, suttaj gamaj
mah'ogho va (like a great flood the sleeping village). The subject
here is the compound mah'ogho (great flood, nominative singular)
and the object the noun gamaj
(village, accusative singular) with its attribute, the past participle
suttaj (sleeping, accusative singular).
The verb is omitted, implying the verbal phrase adaya
gacchati from the main sentence. The particle va (as, like)
connects the clause to the main sentence.
By "flowers" are meant the pleasures
of the senses here. One, who only keeps "gathering flowers", or in other
words chase after the sense-pleasures, will be carried away by death, as
the army of the king of Kosala in this story.
King Pasenadi of Kosala asked the
clan of the Sakyans (Buddha's own relatives)
to give him one of their daughters as a wife. But they sent him a daughter
of a slave woman by king Mahanama.
Pasenadi did not know that and married her. She gave birth to a son, who
was named Vidudabha.
Later Vidudabha found out, that his
mother was a daughter of a slave and became very angry with the Sakyans.
When he became the king, he declared war on them and killed almost all
of the Sakyan clan. On the way back, he and
his army encamped on the bank of a river. That night, heavy rain fell;
the river swelled and carried Vidudabha and his army to the ocean.
When Buddha heard what happened, he
uttered this verse.
Word pronunciation:
pupphani
hi
eva
pacinantaj
byasattamanasaj
byasatta
manasaj
naraj
suttaj
gamaj
mah'ogho
maha
ogho
va
maccu
adaya
gacchati