| Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The person without learning grows old like an ox.
His flesh grows; his wisdom does not.
appa+ssuto ayaj
puriso balivaddo va jirati
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Adj. Adj.m. Pron.m. N.m.
N.m. part. V.act.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.caus.
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|_______________________|_________|
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List of Abbreviations
majsani
tassa vaddhanti
pabba tassa
na vaddhati
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N.n. Pron.m.
V.act.in. N.f. Pron.m.
neg. V.act.in.
Nom.Pl. Gen.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg.
| 3.Sg.pres.
|__________|
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appassuto: appassuta-, Adj.: with small
knowledge, uneducated, ignorant. It is a compound of:
appa-, Adj.: little, few.
suta-, N.n.: knowledge, learning.
Lit. it is a p.p. of the verb su- (to hear).
Euphonic combination: appa- + suta- = appassuta-.
Nom.Sg.m. = appassuto.
ayaj: idaj-,
Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.m. = ayaj.
Euphonic combination: appassuto + ayaj
= appassut'ayaj.
puriso: purisa-, N.m.: person. Nom.Sg. = puriso.
balivaddo: balivadda-, N.m.: ox. Nom.Sg. = balivaddo.
va, part.: as, like.
jirati, V.: get old, to decay. It is a causative of the verb root jar- (to crush). 3.Sg.act.caus. = jirati.
List of Abbreviations
majsani: majsa-, N.n.: flesh, meat. Nom.Pl. = majsani.
tassa: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Sg.m. = tassa.
vaddhanti, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaddh-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vaddhanti.
pabba: pabba-, N.f.: wisdom. Nom.Sg. = pabba.
tassa: see above.
na, neg.: not.
vaddhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaddh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaddhati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of three syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) appassut'ayaj
puriso balivaddo va jirati (the person
without learning grows old like an ox). The subject is the noun puriso
(person, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the adjective appassuto
(without learning, nominative singular) and the pronoun ayaj
(this, nominative singular). The verb is jirati
(grows old, 3rd person, singular, active, causative). There
is a clause, balivaddo va (like an ox). Here, the noun balivaddo
(ox, nominative singular) is the subject, the particle va (as, like)
connects the clause to the rest of the sentence.
2) majsani
tassa vaddhanti (his flesh grows). The
subject is the noun majsani
(meat, nominative plural) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa
(his, genitive singular). The verb is vaddhanti
(grow, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
3) pabba
tassa na vaddhati (his wisdom does not).
The subject is the noun pabba (wisdom,
nominative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa (his,
genitive singular). The verb is vaddhati
(grow, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
It is negated by the negative particle na (not).
There was a monk named Laludayi.
He was not very bright. He was never able to say things, which were appropriate
for the occasion. On happy occasions he would talk about suffering and
sorrow and on sorrowful occasions he would talk about happiness and joy.
He was also never able to understand that he did and said something inappropriate
in these cases. The Buddha spoke this verse in reference to Laludayi.
He also revealed the following story:
in one of his former lives, Laludayi
had been a farmer. He had two oxen to plow the fields. Suddenly one of
them died. The farmer asked his son to go to the king and request another
ox. But the son told him to go himself and taught him a verse to say in
front of the king.
But the farmer made a mistake and
instead of "My ox died, please give me another one", he said "My ox died,
please take the other one away from me".
Fortunately, the king was very wise
and understood that Laludayi
just made a mistake and gave him sixteen oxen to help him with his farming.
Word pronunciation:
appassuto
appa
suto
ayaj
puriso
balivaddo
va
jirati
majsani
tassa
vaddhanti
pabba
na
vaddhati