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

candanaṃ tagaraṃ vā pi uppalaṃ atha vassikī

etesaṃ gandhajātānaṃ sīlagandho anuttaro

(DhP 55)



Sentence Translation:

Sandal or tagara, lotus and jasmine,
of these kinds of scent, the scent of the virtue is highest.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

candanaṃ tagaraṃ  vā     pi       uppalaṃ atha vassikī
|                    |         |        |            |           |         |

N.n.           N.n.    conj. conj.     N.n.      Adv.   N.f.

Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.   |____|       Nom.Sg.    |     Nom.Sg.

|___________|________|________|_______|_____|

                           |___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

etesaṃ gandha+jātānaṃ sīla+gandho   anuttaro
|               |            |         |         |              |

Pron.n.  N.m.    Adj.n.  N.n.   N.m.      Adj.m.

Gen.Pl.    |       Gen.Pl.    |    Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.

|              |_______|         |_____|               |

|___________|                     |___________|

______|                                       |

     |_________________________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

candanaṃ: candana-, N.n.: sandal. Nom.Sg. = candanaṃ.

tagaraṃ: tagara-, N.n: the incense obtained from a kind of shrub (in Latin: Tabernaemontana coronaria). Nom.Sg. = tagaraṃ.

, conj.: or.

pi, conj.: also, too.

uppalaṃ: uppala-, N.n.: lotus. Nom.Sg. = uppalaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

atha, Adv.: and also, and then.

vassikī: vassikī-, N.f.: jasmine. Nom.Sg. = vassikī.

etesaṃ: etad-, Pron.: this. Gen.Pl.n. = etesaṃ.

gandhajātānaṃ: gandhajāta-, N.n.: odor, kind of perfume, "consisting of smell".
It is a compound of:

    gandha-, N.m.: scent, smell.

    jāta-, Adj.: characteristic, consisting of. Originally it is a p.p. of the verb jan- (to be born).

Gen.Pl. = gandhajātānaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

sīlagandho: sīlagandha-, N.m.: the scent of virtue. It is a compound of:
    sīla-, N.n.: virtue.

    gandha-, N.m.: scent.

Nom.Sg. = sīlagandho.

anuttaro: anuttara-, Adj.: highest. Literally: "to which there is no higher". It is composed of the word uttara- (uttara-, Adj.: higher), which is preceded by the negative prefix an-.
Nom.Sg.m. = anuttaro.

List of Abbreviations

    The subject of this sentence is the word sīlagandho (the scent of virtue, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective anuttaro (highest, nominative singular). There is no verb in this sentence, implying the verb "to be".
    The object is the word gandhajātānaṃ (of the kinds of smell, genitive plural). It has an attribute, the pronoun etesaṃ (of these, genitive plural).

    The first line of this verse is formed by a list of four nouns. They are all in nominative singular and are connected by the conjunctions vā pi (or also) and atha (and also, and then). They are candanaṃ (sandal), tagaraṃ (tagara), uppalaṃ (lotus) and vassikī (jasmine). This list forms an attribute to the object etesaṃ gandhajātānaṃ.



Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with that for the previous verse (DhP 54).
    The "scent" or reputation of virtue is the highest. All the other natural scents cannot compete with it, because they can be smelt only for a short time and only in a short distance. But the smell of virtue can be felt for a long period of time and in all directions.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

candanaṃ
tagaraṃ


pi

uppalaṃ

atha

vassikī

etesaṃ

gandhajātānaṃ

gandha

jātānaṃ

sīlagandho

sīla

gandho

anuttaro