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

natthi jhānaṃ apaññassa paññā natthi ajhāyato

yamhi jhānaṃ ca paññā ca sa ve nibbānasantike

(DhP 372)




Sentence Translation:

There is no meditation for the ignorant one. There is no wisdom for someone, who does not meditate.
Who has both wisdom and meditation, he is indeed close to the Nirvana.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na      atthi      jhānaṃ apaññassa paññā    na      atthi      ajhāyato
|            |              |             |            |          |          |              |
neg. V.act.in.     N.n.      Adj.m.    N.f.     neg.  V.act.in.   Adj.m.
|      3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.   |    3.Sg.pres. Gen.Sg.
|_______|              |             |            |          |______|             |
      |____________|_______|            |                |__________|
                   |_____|                         |______________|

List of Abbreviations

yamhi          jhānaṃ    ca   paññā      ca        sa      ve nibbāna+santike
|                       |           |         |           |          |         |       |            |
Rel.Pron.m.   N.n.     conj.   N.f.     conj. Pron.m. part. N.n.      N.n.
Loc.Sg.       Nom.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.   |       |       Loc.Sg.
|                       |______|         |______|           |_____|       |_______|
|                             |___________|                       |__________|
|______________________|                                          |
                 |____________________________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

jhānaṃ: jhāna-, N.n.: meditation, concentration. It is derived from the verb root jhe- (to meditate, to concentrate). Nom.Sg. = jhānaṃ.

apaññassa: apañña-, Adj.: ignorant, without wisdom. It is derived from the word paññā-, N.f. (see below) and the negative prefix a-. Gen.Sg.m. = apaññassa.

paññā: paññā-, N.f.: wisdom. Nom.Sg. = paññā.

na: see above.

atthi: see above.

ajhāyato: ajhāyant-, Adj.: not meditating. It is derived from the verb root jhe- (to meditate) and the prefix a-. Gen.Sg.m. = ajhāyato.

yamhi: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Loc.Sg.m. = yamhi.

List of Abbreviations

jhānaṃ: see above.

ca, conj.: and.

paññā: see above.

ca, conj.: and.

sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = sa (the more usual form is so).

ve, part.: indeed.

nibbānasantike: nibbānasantika-, N.n.: close to the Nirvana, the presence of the Nirvana. It is a compound of:
    nibbāna-, N.n.: Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism.
    santika-, N.n.: presence, vicinity.
Loc.Sg. = nibbānasantike.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) natthi jhānaṃ apaññassa (there is no meditation for the ignorant one). The subject is the noun jhānaṃ (meditation, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adjective apaññassa (for the one who is not wise, genitive singular).
    2) paññā natthi ajhāyato (there is no wisdom for someone, who does not meditate). The subject is the noun paññā (wisdom, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adjective ajhāyato (for the one who does not meditate, genitive singular).
    3) yamhi jhānaṃ ca paññā ca sa ve nibbānasantike (who has both wisdom and meditation, he is indeed close to the Nirvana). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
    a) yamhi jhānaṃ ca paññā ca (who has both wisdom and meditation). There are two subjects, the nouns jhānaṃ (meditation, nominative singular) and paññā (wisdom, nominative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the relative pronoun yamhi (in whom, locative singular). It also connects this sentence to the following one.
    b) sa ve nibbānasantike (he is indeed close to the Nirvana). The subject is the pronoun sa (he, nominative singular). It is stressed by the particle ve (indeed). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the compound nibbānasantike (in the presence of the Nirvana, locative singular).




Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the four previous verses (DhP 368 - DhP 371) and for the following four verses (DhP 373 - DhP376).
    Wisdom comes as a product of long and diligent meditation. There is no other way to obtain wisdom. On the other hand, one must possess an initial small portion of wisdom in order to understand the necessity of meditation. As a result, most people never start to meditate or if they do, they tire quickly and give up.
    Only one, who is wise and uses the wisdom in meditation in order to achieve even more wisdom, is able to reach the goal of Nirvana.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
atthi
jhānaṃ
apaññassa
paññā
ajhāyato
yamhi
ca
sa
ve
nibbānasantike
nibbāna
santike