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

tasmā hi

dhīraṃ ca paññaṃ ca bahussutaṃ ca

dhorayhasīlaṃ vatavantam ariyaṃ

taṃ tādisaṃ sappurisaṃ sumedhaṃ

bhajetha nakkhattapathaṃ va candimā

(DhP 208)




Sentence Translation:

Therefore:
Clever and wise and learned,
virtuous, devout and noble -
associate with such a smart true person,
just like the moon follows the path of the stars.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

tasmā       hi
|                |
Pron.m.  part.
Abl.Sg.      |
|_________|

List of Abbreviations

dhīraṃ  ca   paññaṃ ca    bahu+ssutaṃ  ca
|             |         |         |        |          |        |
Adj.m. conj. Adj.m. conj. Adj.  Adj.m. conj.
Acc.Sg.  |     Acc.Sg.   |        |    Acc.Sg.   |
|_______|          |_____|        |_____|        |
       |                    |                  |_______|
       |___________|______________|___________________________

List of Abbreviations

dhorayha+sīlaṃ vatavantam ariyaṃ
|                  |            |              |
N.m.       Adj.m.   Adj.m.    Adj.m.
|             Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.
|__________|            |              |
____|_____________|________|________________________________

List of Abbreviations

taṃ        tādisaṃ sappurisaṃ sumedhaṃ
|                 |               |                |
Pron.m.  Adj.m.      N.m.        Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.    Acc.Sg.     Acc.Sg.
|_________|                |                |
____|______________|_________|
       |______|              |
             |___________|
                       |______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

   bhajetha nakkhatta+pathaṃ  va    candimā
         |             |              |         |           |
    V.act.       N.n.        N.m.   part.    N.m.
   2.Pl.opt.       |         Acc.Sg.    |     Nom.Sg.
         |             |________|         |           |
         |                     |_________|______|
         |                              |____|
_____|                                  |
     |_____________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

tasmā: tad-, Pron.: that. Abl.Sg. = tasmā (therefore, lit. "from that").

hi, part.: indeed.

dhīraṃ: dhīra-, Adj.: wise, clever. As. an N.m.: wise person. Acc.Sg. = dhīraṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

paññaṃ: pañña-, Adj.: wise, endowed with knowledge. It is derived from the word paññā-, N.f.: wisdom, knowledge. Acc.Sg.m. = paññaṃ.

ca: see above.

List of Abbreviations

bahussutaṃ: bahussuta-, Adj.: learned, one who has heard much. It is a compound of:
    bahu-, Adj.: large, much, very.
    suta-, N.n.: knowledge, learning. Lit. it is a p.p. of the verb su- (to hear).
Euphonic combination: bahu- + suta- = bahussuta-.
Acc.Sg.m. = bahussutaṃ.

ca: see above.

dhorayhasīlaṃ: dhorayhasīla-, Adj.: virtuous, enduring, patient. Lit.: "carrying a yoke of virtue". It is a compound of:
    dhorayha-, N.m.: carrying a yoke, beast of burden.
    sīla-, N.n.: virtue.
Acc.Sg.m. = dhorayhasīlaṃ.

vatavantam: vatavant-, Adj.: devout, observing religious customs. It is the word vata-, N.m.: religious duty, custom, observance, practice; with the possessive suffix -ant. Acc.Sg.m. = vatavantam.

List of Abbreviations

ariyaṃ: ariya-, Adj.: noble, distinguished, good. Acc.Sg.m. = ariyaṃ.

taṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Acc.Sg.m. = taṃ.

tādisaṃ: tādisa-, Adj.: such. Acc.Sg.m. = tādisaṃ.

sappurisaṃ: sappurisa-, N.m.: a true person. It is a compound of:
    sat-, Adj.: true, good, real. This is a compound form of the word sant- (see below).
    purisa-, N.m.: person.
Euphonic combination: sat- + purisa- = sappurisa-.
Acc.Sg. = sappurisaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

sumedhaṃ: sumedha-, Adj.: smart. It is derived from the word medhā-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix su- (good, well). Acc.Sg.m. = sumedhaṃ.

bhajetha, V.: associate with. The verb root is bhaj- (to associate with).
2.Pl.act.opt. = bhajetha.

nakkhattapathaṃ: nakkhattapatha-, N.m.: the path of stars. It is a compound of:
    nakkhatta-, N.n.: nightly heavenly body, star, stellar constellation.
    patha-, N.m.: road, path.
Acc.Sg. = nakkhattapathaṃ.

va, part.: like, as (another form of this word is iva).

candimā: candimā-, N.m.: moon. Nom.Sg. = candimā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of the introducing phrase, the main sentence and the dependent clause, as follows:
    1) tasmā hi (therefore, indeed). The pronoun tasmā ("from that", therefore; ablative singular) is modified by the particle hi (indeed, verily).
    2) dhīraṃ ca paññaṃ ca bahussutaṃ ca dhorayhasīlaṃ vatavantam ariyaṃ taṃ tādisaṃ sappurisaṃ sumedhaṃ bhajetha (Clever and wise and learned, virtuous, devout and noble - associate with such a smart true person). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person plural pronoun. The verb is bhajetha (associate, 2nd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the noun sappurisaṃ (true person, accusative singular). It has nine attributes. The adjectives dhīraṃ (clever, accusative singular), paññaṃ (wise, accusative singular), bahussutaṃ (learned, accusative singular), dhorayhasīlaṃ (virtuous, accusative singular), vatavantam (devout, accusative singular), ariyaṃ (noble, accusative singular) and sumedhaṃ (smart, accusative singular). The second set of attributes is the adjective tādisaṃ (such, accusative singular) and the pronoun taṃ (that, accusative singular). Several of the attributes are connected to each other by multiple conjunctions ca (and).
    3) nakkhattapathaṃ va candimā (just like the moon [follows] the path of the stars). The subject is the noun candimā (moon, nominative singular). The verb is omitted; the main sentence implies the verb bhaj- (to associate; in 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense - bhajati). The object is the compound nakkhattapathaṃ (the path of the stars, accusative singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.




Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the two previous verses (DhP 206 and DhP 207).
    As the moon follows and "associates with" the stars on the night sky, so should people who want to reach the highest goal follow and associate with only the best companions, who can teach one a lot on the way to the spiritual progress.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

tasmā
hi
dhīraṃ
ca
paññaṃ
bahussutaṃ
bahu
sutaṃ
dhorayhasīlaṃ
dhorayha
sīlaṃ
vatavantam
ariyaṃ
taṃ
tādisaṃ
sappurisaṃ
sat
purisaṃ
sumedhaṃ
bhajetha
nakkhattapathaṃ
nakkhatta
pathaṃ
va
candimā