Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Very faint is this scent of tagara and sandal.
Highest is the scent of a virtuous one; it blows even
amongst the gods.
appa+matto ayaj
gandho ya
ayaj tagara+candani
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Adj. Adj.m. Pron.m.
N.m. Rel.Pron.f. Pron.f. N.n.
N.f.
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Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
yo
ca silavataj
gandho vati
devesu uttamo
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Rel.Pron.m. conj. Adj.m.
N.m. V.act.in. N.m.
Adj.m.
Nom.Sg.
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Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg.
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appamatto: appamatta-, Adj.: little, slight,
insignificant. It is a compound of:
appa-, Adj.: small, little.
matta-, Adj.: measured, measuring.
Nom.Sg.m. = appamatto.
ayaj: idaj-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.m. = ayaj.
gandho: gandha-, N.m.: smell. Nom.Sg. = gandho.
ya: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which, such as. Nom.Sg.f. = ya.
List of Abbreviations
ayaj: idaj-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.f. = ayaj.
tagaracandani: tagaracandani-,
N.f.: tagara and sandal. It is a compound of:
tagara-, N.n.: the incense
obtained from a kind of shrub
(in Latin: Tabernaemontana coronaria).
candani-,
N.f.: sandal.
Nom.Sg. = tagaracandani.
yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.
ca, conj.: and.
List of Abbreviations
silavataj: silavant-, Adj.: virtuous. As a N.m.: virtuous person. It is the word sila-, N.n.: virtue, with a possessive suffix -vant. Gen.Pl. = silavataj.
gandho: see above.
vati, V.: blows. The verb root is va- (to blow). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vati.
devesu: deva-, N.m.: god, deity. Loc.Pl. = devesu.
uttamo: uttama-, Adj.: highest, utmost, best. Nom.Sg.m. = uttamo.
List of Abbreviations
Two lines of this verse form two syntactically
separated sentences.
In the first sentence, subject is
the noun gandho (smell, nominative singular). It has an attribute,
the pronoun ayaj (this, nominative
singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has the adjective
appamatto (faint, nominative singular) as a predicate. There is
a clause, ya ayaj
tagaracandani (namely, this tagara and
sandal). Here, the subject is the compound tagaracandani
(tagara and sandal, nominative singular). It has the pronoun ayaj
(this, nominative singular) as an attribute. The relative pronoun ya
(that, which; nominative singular) connects the clause to the main sentence.
In the second line, the subject is
the noun gandho (smell, nominative singular) with two attributes,
the adjective uttamo (highest, nominative singular) and the adjective
silavataj
(of the virtuous ones, genitive plural). The verb is vati
(blows, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense)
with an attribute, the noun devesu (amongst the gods, locative plural).
The relative pronoun yo (that, which; nominative singular) introduces
the sentence and also connects it to the previous one. The conjunction
ca (and) serves a similar purpose.
One of the Buddha's chief disciples, Venerable Kassapa,
went to the city of Rajagaha for alms food.
He wanted to give some poor man opportunity to give him food and thus obtain
merit.
Sakka, the king of the gods saw this,
he assumed the form of an old poor weaver and together with his wife Sujata
came to Rajagaha. Venerable Kassapa stood
at their door and Sakka filled his bowl with delicious rice and curry.
Kassapa thought, that this cannot be a poor man - how could such a person
afford so delicious food? Kassapa then realized that this man and his wife
are actually Sakka and Sujata.
They admitted this fact and told Kassapa
that they were too very poor - they did not have enough opportunity to
give alms and thus did not accumulate any merit.
Monks asked the Buddha how Sakka knew
Kassapa was such a virtuous person that any alms given to him reap great
meritorious reward. The Buddha answered by this verse, telling them that
the fame of Kassapa's virtue reached even amongst the gods.
Word pronunciation:
appamatto
appa
matto
ayaj
gandho
ya
ayaj
tagaracandani
tagara
candani
yo
ca
silavataj
vati
devesu
uttamo