One who finds joy in the Dharma dwells happily, with a bright mind.
The wise man always delights in the Dharma taught by the noble ones.

dhamma+pīti sukhaṃ     seti vippasannena cetasā
|                |         |            |             |              |
N.m.      N.m.   Adv.  V.act.in.    Adj.n.      N.n.
|          Nom.Sg.   |     3.Sg.pres.  Ins.Sg.    Ins.Sg.
|_________|         |            |             |________|
        |                  |_______|                    |
        |                          |______________|
        |______________________|

List of Abbreviations

ariya+ppavedite dhamme sadā  ramati     paṇḍito
|              |             |           |          |              |
Adj.    Adj.m.     N.m.    Adv.  V.act.in.    N.m.
|         Loc.Sg.   Loc.Sg.     |    3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
|________|             |           |_____|               |
       |____________|                |                   |
                  |_______________|                   |
                              |___________________|

dhammapīti: dhammapītin-, Adj.m.: drinking the Dharma. It is a compound of:
    dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold.
    Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
    pītin-, Adj.: drinking. It is derived (by adding the possessive suffix -in) from the word
    pīta-, Adj.: having drunk, which is a p.p. of the verb pā- (to drink).
Nom.Sg. = dhammapītī, the form dhammapīti could be due to the metrical requirements.
This is the traditional explanation of this word. There is, however, another possibility, taking the word pīti as pīti-, N.f.: joy, delight. The meaning of the whole compound then would be "one who finds joy in the Dharma". In the light of the second line of this verse, where the verb ramati is used, I find this more convincing. In the translation of this verse this meaning is used, however here in the Vocabulary I introduced the traditional meaning first. Also in the Commentary, which is also traditional, this meaning is worked with. In the Sentence Structure, this second meaning is used - at the end of the compound then N.f. becomes N.m.

sukhaṃ, Adv.: happily. It is the word sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Acc.Sg. = sukhaṃ. Here as an adverb.

List of Abbreviations

seti, V.: lays, dwells. The verb root is si- (to lay). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = seti.

vippasannena: vippasanna-, Adj.: purified, clear, bright. It is a p.p. of the verb vippasīdati (to become bright). The verb root is sīd- (to sit). Ins.Sg.n. = vippasannena.

cetasā: ceto-, N.n.: mind. Ins.Sg. = cetasā.

ariyappavedite: ariyappavedita-, Adj.: declared by the noble ones. It is a compound of:
    ariya-, Adj.: noble, distinguished, good.
    pavedita-, Adj.: declared, made known, taught. It is a p.p. of the verb pavedati (to make known).
Euphonic combination: ariya- + pavedita- = ariyappavedita-.
Loc.Sg.m. = ariyappavedite.

List of Abbreviations

dhamme: dhamma-, N.m: see above. Loc.Sg. = dhamme.

sadā, Adv.: always.

ramati, V.: delights. The verb root is ram- (to enjoy, to delight in).
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = ramati.

paṇḍito: N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = paṇḍito.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two sentences. They form the first and second line respectively.
    In the first sentence (first line), the subject is the compound dhammapīti (one who finds joy in the Dharma; or one who drinks the Dharma, nominative singular). The verb is seti (dwells, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). This verb has two attributes, the adverb sukhaṃ (happily) and the noun cetasā (with a mind, instrumental singular). This word has its own attribute, the past participle vippasannena (with bright, instrumental singular).
    In the second sentence (second line), the subject is the noun paṇḍito (wise man, nominative singular). The verb is ramati (delights, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). This verb has two attributes, the adverb sadā (always) and the noun dhamme (in the Dharma, locative singular). This word has the compound ariyappavedite (in the [Dharma] taught by the noble ones, locative singular) as an attribute.

    King Mahākappina ruled in Kukkutavati. Once he heard from some merchants about the Buddha and his teachings. He and several of his ministers immediately left for Sāvatthi, where the Buddha was staying at that time.
    They met the Buddha sitting under a tree on the bank of a river. After listening to his teachings, they immediately realized the Dharma and became monks.
    When he did not return, his queen and wives of the ministers followed them to Sāvatthi. When they arrived there, the Buddha hid the former king and his ministers, because he knew that if the women saw their husbands in yellow robes and with their heads shaved, it would be impossible for them to realize the Dharma. So he just told them to sit down and listen to what he had to say, their husbands would join them soon. He then delivered a discourse. At the end the king and his ministers (they were sitting nearby) attained arahantship and the queen and the wives of the ministers attained the first stage of awakenment. The ladies also joined the Order and soon became arahants too.
    Venerable Mahākappina would often exclaim: "Oh, what happiness!" When the other monks asked the Buddha what he meant, he replied with this verse, explaining that Mahākappina tasted the nectar of the Dharma and found it extremely sweet. He therefore lives happily, with a bright mind.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

dhammapīti
dhamma
pīti
sukhaṃ
seti
vippasannena
cetasā
ariyappavedite
ariya
pavedite
dhamme
sadā
ramati
paṇḍito