"Moreover, Sariputra, in that Buddhaland when
those rows of tala trees and those nets of
little bells are stirred by the wind, a sweet
and delightful sound comes forth."


  Sakyamuni Buddha has more to tell his disciple
Sariputra about the Land of Happiness,
and  so he says: punaraparam "moreover," sariputra
"Sariputra," tatra "in that" buddhaksetre
"Buddhaland" of Amitabha Buddha there is something
else especially fine.  The grammatical
construction that describes it is somewhat complex,
however.  The subject of the sentence is
sabdo(1) "sound " and its finite verb is niscarati
"goes forth."(2) Two adjectives modify sabdo:
valgur(3) "sweet" and manojnah(4) "delightful."
The endings are variations of the nominative
singular masculine ending:  r/s/h/o.(5)

  Also dependent on sabdo are two more nouns
in the genitive plural, each introduced by the
correlatives ca...ca, which so combined mean
"both...and."(6) They are the compound talapanktinam
"rows of tala trees," and the compound
kinkinijalanam(7)  "nets  of  little  bells."   Each
noun is modified by a demonstrative adjective,
wither tasam "of those" (genitive plural feminine),
or tesam (genitive plural neuter). Also,
the perfect passive participle iritanam "stirred"(8)
modifies both nouns, yet agrees with the
noun to which it is closest: kinkinijalanam.
To  irita is prefixed the masculine noun vata
"wind," the resulting sound combination vata +
irita becoming vaterita "stirred by the wind."

   In English, the genitive phrase is made into
a relative clause introduced by "When".  When
the soft wind blows through the trees and nets
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, incredibly wondrous
sounds come forth.



Notes: 1--Nominative singular masculine of sabda. 2--Third person singular present active indicative from root û car- + prefix nis-. 3--Nominative singular masculine of valgu "beautiful/lovely/sweet (of sounds)." 4--Nominative singular masculine of manojna "pleasing to the mind/delightful." 5 See VBS #25 for full discussion. 6--Remember that ca is placed after the word it connects, not before it as in English. 7--These were fully discussed in VBS #86. 8--Genitive plural neuter from root û ir- "move/stir/agitate."