What laughter? Why joy? When everything is constantly burning?
Covered by darkness, you do not seek light?

ko           nu    hāso        kim       ānando niccaṃ pajjalite     sati
|                |        |             |              |            |           |            |
Pron.m.  part.  N.m.     Pron.n.     N.m.     Adv.   Adj.m.   Adj.m.
Nom.Sg.    |   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.     |      Loc.Sg.  Loc.Sg.
|_________|____|              |_______|             |           |_______|
         |____________________|                    |__________|
                            |__________________________|

List of Abbreviations

andha+kārena   onaddhā  padīpaṃ  na gavesatha
|               |             |              |         |          |
Adj.      N.m.     Adj.m.      N.m.   neg.  V.act.in.
|           Ins.Sg.  Nom.Pl.   Acc.Sg.   |     3.Pl.pres.
|________|              |              |        |______|
       |____________|              |________|
                  |__________________|

ko: kim-, Inter.Pron.: who. Nom.Sg.m. = ko.

nu, part.: then, now.

hāso: hāsa-, N.m.: laughter, mirth. Nom.Sg. = hāso.

kim: kim-, Inter.Pron.: who. Nom.Sg.n. = kim. Here rather means "why, "what for".

ānando: ānanda-, N.m.: joy, delight. Nom.Sg. = ānando.

niccaṃ, Adv.: perpetually, constantly.

pajjalite: pajjalita-, Adj.: burning, in flames. It is a p.p. of the verb root jal- (to burn) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Loc.Sg. = pajjalite.

List of Abbreviations

sati: sant-, Adj.: existing, being. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Loc.Sg. = sati.

andhakārena: andhakāra-, N.m.: darkness, blindness. Lit. "blind-maker". It is a compound of:
    andha-, Adj.: blind.
    kāra-, Adj.: doing. As an N.m.: one, who makes, maker. It is derived from the verb kar-, to do.
Ins.Sg. = andhakārena.

onaddhā: onaddha-, Adj.: bound, tied, covered. Nom.Pl.m. = onaddhā.

padīpaṃ: padīpa-, N.m.: light, lamp. Acc.Sg. = padīpaṃ.

na, neg.: not.

gavesatha, V.: seek, look for. Originally it is a compound of the noun gava-, N.m. (the compound form of the word go-, N.m.: cow) and the verb root is- (to seek). 2.Pl.act.in.pres. = gavesatha.

List of Abbreviations

    Two lines of this verse form two sentences. They are:
    1) ko nu hāso kim ānando niccaṃ pajjalite sati (What laughter? Why joy? When everything is constantly burning?). This can be further analyzed into three parts:
    a) ko nu hāso (What laughter?). The subject is the noun hāso (laughter, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the interrogative pronoun ko (what, nominative singular). The particle nu (then) serves only for metrical purposes. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
    b) kim ānando (Why joy?). The subject is the noun ānando (joy, nominative singular) with its attribute, the interrogative pronoun kim (what, why, nominative singular). Note that we cannot translate the word kim simply as "what", because the noun ānando is a masculine. The pronoun should therefore be ko (as in the first part). We have to take the pronoun kim more as an adverb - "why", "whence". As before, the verb is omitted; the verb "to be" is implied.
    c) niccaṃ pajjalite sati (When everything is constantly burning?). This sentence is in so called "absolute locative" It can be literally translated "in [what is] constantly burning". The subject is in locative: pajjalite (in burning, locative singular) and it has the adverb niccaṃ (constantly) as an attribute. The verb is in active present participle and that is in locative too: sati (in being, locative singular). We usually translate the absolute locative with the help of the word "when" or "while".
    2) andhakārena onaddhā padīpaṃ na gavesatha (Covered by darkness, you do not seek light?). The subject is the past participle onaddhā (covered, nominative plural) with its attribute, the compound andhakārena (by darkness, instrumental singular). The verb gavesatha (seek, 2^nd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense) is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun padīpaṃ (light, accusative singular).

    Visākhā was one of the most famous female lay disciples. She was very devoted and generous. Once, some men from Sāvatthi asked Visākhā to be a companion to their wives, who were frivolous and liked to drink alcohol. Their husband hoped that Visākhā could have positive influence on them.
    Once, the group of women went to the garden. The wives secretly brought some liquor and got drunk. When Visākhā found out about it, she was angry and reprimanded them.
    At another occasion, the women wanted to go to the garden again. Visākhā refused, remembering what happened the last time. So they requested to go to the Jetavana monastery to pay respect to the Buddha.
    After arriving at the monastery, the ladies again got drunk from the liquor they brought secretly along. Māra further influenced their minds and the women started to behave shamelessly: they were dancing, singing and jumping about.
    When the Buddha saw this, he used his supernormal powers. He let the room get dark and illuminated the sky with rays of strong light. The women were frightened and awed at the same time. They got sober quickly.
    The Buddha admonished them for their behavior and for getting drunk. He told them that drinking alcohol brings pain and unhappiness, it clouds our minds and then we are more likely to get under influence of evil passions.
    At the end of the discourse, all the ladies were firmly established in the path and returned home mindfully and peacefully.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ko
nu
hāso
kim
ānando
niccaṃ
pajjalite
sati
andhakārena
andha
kārena
onaddhā
padīpaṃ
na
gavesatha