Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The wisdom of a person, whose mind is unsteady, who does not understand the True Dharma and whose confidence is wavering will not become perfect.
an+avaṭṭhita+cittassa sad+dhammaṃ
a+vijānato
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neg. Adj. N.m. Adj. N.m. neg. Adj.m.
|______| Gen.Sg. | Acc.Sg. | Gen.Sg.
|__________| |_______| |_____|
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List of Abbreviations
pariplava+pasādassa paññā na
paripūrati
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Adj. N.m. N.f. neg. V.act.in.
| Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|__________| | |______|
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|__________________| |
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anavaṭṭhitacittassa:
anavaṭṭhitacitta-, N.m.: a person of unsteady or unsettled mind. It is
a compound of:
anavaṭṭhita-, Adj.: unsteady, unsettled. It is a negated
(by the negative prefix an-)
word avaṭṭhita-, Adj.: steady, firm, settled. This word is
a p.p. of the verb
ṭhā- (to stand) with the prexif ava- (down).
citta-, N.n.: mind.
Gen.Sg. = anavaṭṭhitacittassa.
saddhammaṃ: saddhamma-,
N.m.: true Dharma. It is a compound of:
sad-, Adj.: good, true. Original meaning: existing. The full
form (sant-) is an a.pr.p.
of the verb as- (to be). The compound form of sant-
= sat-.
dhamma-, N.m.: Dharma, Buddha's teaching.
Euphonic combination: sat- + dhamma- = saddhamma-.
Acc.Sg. = saddhammaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
avijānato: avijānant-, Adj.: not understanding. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word vijānant-, Adj.: knowing, which is an a.pr.p. of the verb ñā- (to know) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). Gen.Sg. = avijānato.
pariplavapasādassa:
pariplavapasāda-, Adj.:
pariplava-, Adj.: unsteady, wavering. Derived from
the verb plu- (to float, to swim)
with the prefix pari- (around).
pasāda-, N.m.: confidence, faith. Derived from the
verb sad- (to sit) with the
strengthening prefix pa-. Thus pa+sad-:
to make clear, to become tranquil.
Gen.Sg.m. = pariplavapasādassa.
List of Abbreviations
paññā: paññā, N.f.: wisdom. Nom.Sg. = paññā.
na, neg.: not.
paripūrati, V.: become full, become perfect. The verb pūr- (to fill) with the prefix pari- (all around). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = paripūrati.
List of Abbreviations
The subject of this sentence is
the word paññā (wisdom, nominative singular) and the verb is paripūrati
(becomes perfect, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense) which
is negated by the negative particle na.
The subject has three attributes, namely: 1) anavaṭṭhitacittassa
(of the unsteady-minded one, genitive singular), 2) avijānato (of the
not understanding one, genitive singular); this word has its own attribute,
the word saddhammaṃ (the true Dharma, accusative singular) and 3) pariplavapasādassa
(of the one, whose confidence is wavering, genitive singular).
A certain man from Sāvatthi was
once looking for his ox lost in the forest. He got hungry so he went to a village
monastery, where the monks gave him the remains of the morning meal. While eating,
he realized that he was working hard every day, but did not even have enough
food. What if he became a monk? So he asked the monks to grant him an ordination.
As a monk he had plenty of food, soon he was quite fat.
After some time he grew tired of going for alms and so he
decided to become a layman again. Later he again changed his mind, thinking
the life too strenuous and became a monk. In this way he left the Order and
came back six times.
While he was going back and forth, his wife became pregnant.
Once he entered their bedroom when she was asleep. She was almost naked, snoring
loudly, saliva trickling down the mouth. This and her bloated stomach made her
look like a corpse. He was able to perceive impermanence and unpleasantness
of the body. He was thinking that he was a monk for several times and only because
of this woman he was not able to stay. So he left home for seventh time, repeating
as he went the words "impermanence" and "suffering" and
on the way to the monastery he attained the first stage of awakenment. But the
monks did not want to permit him into the Order, joking: "You have been
shaving your head so often, that it looks like a whetting stone." He asked
once more and the monks granted him the ordination one last time. Within few
days he attained arahantship.
The monks were surprised to see him staying so long, so they
asked what happened. The man said he had no attachments any more, so why would
he leave. But they did not believe him and asked the Buddha, who said it was
the truth. The man was an arahant now, who discarded both the ideas of good
and evil.
Word pronunciation:
anavaṭṭhitacittassa
anavaṭṭhita
cittassa
saddhammaṃ
avijānato
pariplavapasādassa
pariplava
pasādassa
paññā
na
paripūrati