Gatha Sentence Translation Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar Commentary Pronunciation
                          List of Abbreviations

mettavihari yo bhikkhu pasanno buddhasasane

adhigacche padaj santaj savkharupasamaj sukhaj

(DhP 368)




Sentence Translation:

The monk, who is abiding in loving-kindness and trusting in the Buddha's teaching,
will acquire the peaceful state of Nirvana, quieting of all conditioned things and happiness.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

metta+vihari         yo         bhikkhu  pasanno buddha+sasane
|              |              |                |             |            |           |
N.f.    Adj.m.  Rel.Pron.m.   N.m.     Adj.m.    N.m.     N.n.
|        Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.     |       Loc.Sg.
|________|              |                |             |           |_______|
       |                      |                |             |__________|
       |____________|_________|                        |
                             |        |__________________|
                             |______________|
                                          |_________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

adhigacche padaj  santaj savkhara+upasamaj sukhaj
|                     |           |            |               |              |
V.act.          N.n.    Adj.n.    N.m.         N.m.       N.n.
3.Sg.opt.   Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.      |           Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.
|                     |______|            |_________|             |
|                           |_______________|___________|
|_______________________|
____________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

mettavihari: mettaviharin-, Adj.: abiding in loving-kindness. It is a compound of:
    metta-, N.f.: loving-kindness, love, friendliness.
    viharin-, Adj.: dwelling, living. It is derived from the verb root har- (to carry) with the prefix vi- (denoting separation; thus viharati, V.: to live, to stay, to dwell) and with the possessive suffix -in.
Nom.Sg.m. = mettavihari.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

bhikkhu: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Nom.Sg. = bhikkhu.

pasanno: pasanna-, Adj.: trusting, virtuous, happy, bright. It is a p.p. of the verb root sad- (to sit) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = pasanno.

buddhasasane: buddhasasana-, N.n.: the teaching of the Buddha. It is a compound of:
    buddha-, Adj.: awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb root budh- (to awaken). As a N.m.: Awakened One, Enlightened One, a being who has attained the Nirvana.
    sasana-, N.n.: teaching, message, the teaching of the Buddha. It is derived from the verb root sas- (to teach).
Loc.Sg. = buddhasasane.

List of Abbreviations

adhigacche, V.: would find, acquire. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefix adhi- (towards). 3.Sg.act.opt. = adhigacche.

padaj: pada-, N.n.: state, place. Acc.Sg. = padaj.

santaj: santa-, Adj.: peaceful, tranquil. It is a p.p. of the verb sam- (to be appeased).
Acc.Sg.n. = santaj.

savkharupasamaj: savkharupasama-, N.m.: quieting of all the conditioned things, the Nirvana. It is a compound of:
    savkhara-, N.m.: conditioned thing, world of phenomena. The meaning of this word is very wide, here we will use "conditioned thing". It comprises the entire world around us, including ourselves.
    upasama-, N.m.: calm, quiet, tranquility. It is derived from the verb root sam- (to be appeased) with the prefix upa- (towards, up).
Euphonic combination: savkhara- + upasama- = savkharupasama-.
Acc.Sg. = savkharupasamaj.

sukhaj: sukha-, N.n.: happiness, well-being. Acc.Sg.m. = sukhaj.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
    1) mettavihari yo bhikkhu pasanno buddhasasane (the monk, who is abiding in loving-kindness and trusting in the Buddha's teaching). The subject is the noun bhikkhu (monk, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the compound mettavihari (abiding in loving-kindness, nominative singular) and the past participle pasanno (trusting, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the compound buddhasasane (in the Buddha's teaching, locative singular). The relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular) connects the sentence to the following one.
    2) adhigacche padaj santaj savkharupasamaj sukhaj (will acquire the peaceful state of Nirvana, quieting of all conditioned things and happiness). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is adhigacche (would acquire, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has three attributes, the noun sukhaj (happiness, accusative singular), the compound savkharupasamaj (quieting of all conditioned things, accusative singular) and the noun padaj (state, accusative singular). This last word has an attribute, the adjective santaj (peaceful, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    There was a rich lady living in a certain village. She had a son named Sona, who became a monk. Once he passed through his hometown on his way back to the Jetavana monastery. When his mother heard this, she organized a grand charity in his honor. She also erected a pavilion so that Sona could teach her and other villagers the Dharma.
    While they were at the pavilion listening to Sona's discourse, some thieves broke into the lady's house. Their leader went to the pavilion to make sure she did not return home earlier. The maid who was left behind came quickly telling her about the thieves. But the lady just said, "Let them take everything, I will not be disturbed while listening to the Dharma". The leader of the thieves got scared, returned to the house and told his companions to return all the stolen goods. Then they all went to the pavilion and listened to the Dharma.
    When the discourse was finished, they begged the lady for forgiveness. She forgave them and all the thieves became monks. They went to the forest and practiced meditation diligently. The Buddha told them this verse (and the eight following ones) to help them on their way to the Awakenment.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mettavihari
metta
vihari
yo
bhikkhu
pasanno
buddhasasane
buddha
sasane
adhigacche
padaj
santaj
savkharupasamaj
savkhara
upasamaj
sukhaj