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

yo ca vassasataṃ jantu aggiṃ paricare vane

ekaṃ ca bhāvit'attānaṃ muhuttam api pūjaye

sā yeva pūjanā seyyo yaṃ ce vassasataṃ hutaṃ

(DhP 107)




Sentence Translation:

Whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years,
and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself,
then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo             ca   vassa+sataṃ     jantu     aggiṃ  paricare     vane
|                 |         |         |            |            |            |             |
Rel.Pron. conj.   N.n. Num.n.   N.m.      N.m.    V.act.      N.n.
Nom.Sg.     |         |    Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Loc.Sg.
|_________|          |_____|            |            |            |_______|
        |_____________|_________|             |                   |
                                |       |____________|___________|
                                |                |_______|
                                |____________|
                                           |____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

ekaṃ       ca bhāvita+attānaṃ muhuttam api   pūjaye
|                |       |           |              |           |         |
Num.m. conj. Adj.     N.m.        N.m.    part.  V.act.
Acc.Sg.     |       |      Acc.Sg.    Acc.Sg.     |    3.Sg.opt.
|                |       |______|              |______|          |
|_________|_______|                         |_________|
                       |______________________|
_______________________|
                   |__________________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sā         yeva pūjanā      seyyo        yaṃ        ce  vassa+sataṃ      hutaṃ
|               |         |              |               |            |       |         |              |
Pron.f.   part.   N.f.       Adj.n.   Rel.Pron.n. part. N.n.  Num.n.    Adj.n.
Nom.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg.     |       |     Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|________|_____|              |                |______|        |_____|              |
         |___|                        |                     |                   |__________|
            |_______________|                     |_______________|
                         |___________________________|
___________________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

ca, conj.: and.

vassasataṃ: vassasata-, N.n.: hundred years, century. It is a compound of:
    vassa-, N.n.: year.
    sata-, Num.n.: hundred.
Nom.Sg. = vassasataṃ.

jantu: jantu-, N.m.: creature, living being, person. Nom.Sg. = jantu.

aggiṃ: aggi-, N.m.: fire. Acc.Sg. = aggiṃ.

paricare, V.: to worship (fire). Literally: to tend to, to look after. The verb root is car- (to walk, to move, with the prefix pari- (around). 3.Sg.act.opt. = paricare.

vane: vana-, N.n.: forest. Loc.Sg. = vane.

List of Abbreviations

ekaṃ: eka-, Num.: one. Acc.Sg.m. = ekaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

bhāvit'attānaṃ: bhāvit'attan-, Adj.: having developed oneself. It is a compound of:
    bhāvita-, Adj.: developed. It is a p.p. of the verb bhāveti (to develop, to meditate).
    attan-, N.m.: self, oneself.
Euphonic combination: bhāvita- + attan- = bhāvit'attan-.
Acc.Sg.m. = bhāvit'attānaṃ.

muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.

api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).

pūjaye, V.: should worship, should pay respects to. The verb root is pūj- (to worship).
3.Sg.act.opt. = pūjaye.

: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.f. = .

List of Abbreviations

yeva, part.: just, only. It is more often spelled as eva.

pūjanā: pūjanā-, N.f.: worship, devotion. It is derived from the verb root pūj- (to worship).
Nom.Sg. = pūjanā.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

yaṃ: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Nom.Sg.n. = yaṃ.

ce, part.: if.

vassasataṃ: vassasata-, N.n.: see above. Nom.Sg. = vassasataṃ.

hutaṃ: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). Nom.Sg.n. = hutaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two sentences. They are:
    1) yo ca vassasataṃ jantu aggiṃ paricare vane ekaṃ ca bhāvit'attānaṃ muhuttam api pūjaye (whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years, and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). This can be further subdivided into two segments:
    a) yo ca vassasataṃ jantu aggiṃ paricare vane (whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (whoever, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun jantu (being, nominative singular). The verb is paricare (should worship, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has two attributes, the compound vassasataṃ (for a century, accusative singular) and the noun vane (in the forest, locative singular). The object is the noun aggiṃ (fire, accusative singular). The conjunction ca (and) serves only for metrical purposes.
    b) ekaṃ ca bhāvit'attānaṃ muhuttam api pūjaye (and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). The subject is still the word yo from the previous sentence. The object is the compound bhāvit'attānaṃ (one who has developd himself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the numeral ekaṃ (one, accusative singular). The verb is pūjaye (should pay respects, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the word muhuttam (for a moment, accusative singular) with its attribute, the particle api (also, just). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes, but it also connects this sentence to the previous one.
    2) sā yeva pūjanā seyyo yaṃ ce vassasataṃ hutaṃ (then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
    a) sā yeva pūjanā seyyo (such a devotion is better). The subject is double, the pronoun (she, nominative singular) and pūjanā (devotion, nominative singular). They are stressed by the particle yeva (just). The adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular) is an object of this sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
    b) yaṃ ce vassasataṃ hutaṃ (than hundred years of sacrifice). The subject is the compound vassasataṃ (century, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle hutaṃ (sacrificed, nominative singular). The relative pronoun yaṃ (that, what; nominative singular) and the particle ce (if) form two parts of the phrase yaṃ ce (than). The verb is again omitted, as above implying the verb "to be".




Commentary:

    Venerable Sāriputta once asked his cousin if he was following any beneficial religious practices. His cousin told him that he sacrifices one goat every month in the fire and thus he will reach a heavenly world in his next existence. Sāriputta explained to him, that this was not the way to the heavenly world and took him to see the Buddha.
    The Buddha taught him the Dharma and further explained to him that to pay respects to an Arahant is far better than to sacrifice to the fire for hundred years.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
ca
vassasataṃ
vassa
sataṃ
jantu
aggiṃ
paricare
vane
ekaṃ
bhāvit'attānaṃ
bhāvita
attānaṃ
muhuttam
api
pūjaye

yeva
pūjanā
seyyo
yaṃ
ce
hutaṃ