Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
For somebody, who is showing respect to those of virtuous
character, who is always paying homage to the venerable ones,
four things grow for him: life-span, beauty of complexion,
happiness, strength.
abhivādana+sīlissa
niccaṃ vuḍḍha+apacāyino
|
| |
| |
N.n.
Adj.m. Adv. Adj. Adj.m.
|
Gen.Sg. |
| Gen.Sg.
|____________|
| |_______|
|
|__________|
|_________________|
|_____________________________________________________
List of Abbreviations
cattāro dhammā
vaḍḍhanti āyu
vaṇṇo sukhaṃ
balaṃ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Num.m. N.m. V.act.in.
N.n. N.m.
N.n. N.n.
Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_________|
|
|_______|________|_______|
____|_____________|
|
|_______|__________________________|
|____________|
abhivādanasīlissa:
abhivādanasīlin-,
Adj.: showing respect to those of virtuous character. It is a compound
of:
abhivādana-,
N.n.: salutation, showing respect. It is derived from the verb
root vad- (to speak) with the
prefix abhi- (all around).
sīlin-,
Adj.: of virtuous character. It is derived from the word sīla-,
N.n.: virtue,
by adding the possessive suffix -in.
Gen.Sg.m. = abhivādanasīlissa.
niccaṃ, Adv.: perpetually, constantly.
vuḍḍhāpacāyino:
vuḍḍhāpacāyin-,
Adj.: paying homage to the venerable ones. It is a compound of:
vuḍḍha-,
Adj.: old, fig.: venerable. It is a p.p. of the verb root vaḍḍh-
(to grow).
apacāyin-,
Adj.: honoring, paying homage. It is the word apacāya-,
N.m.: honor, respect,
with the possessive suffix -in.
Euphonic combination: vuḍḍha-
+ apacāyin- = vuḍḍhāpacāyin-.
Gen.Sg.m. = vuḍḍhāpacāyino.
List of Abbreviations
cattāro: catur-, Num.: four. Nom.Pl.m. = cattāro.
dhammā: dhamma-, N.m.: here does not mean Buddha's teaching, but should be interpreted rather as "state" or even more generally "thing". Nom.Pl. = dhammā.
vaḍḍhanti, V.: grow. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhanti.
āyu: āyu-, N.n.: longevity, life-span. Nom.Sg. = āyu.
vaṇṇo: vaṇṇa-, N.m.: color, complexion. Nom.Sg. = vaṇṇo.
sukhaṃ: sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Nom.Sg. = sukhaṃ.
balaṃ: bala-, N.n.: strength, power. Nom.Sg. = balaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
The subject of this sentence is the
noun dhammā (things, nominative plural).
It has the numeral cattāro (four, nominative
plural) as the main attribute and four words as additional attributes:
āyu (life-span, nominative singular),
vaṇṇo (complexion, nominative singular),
sukhaṃ (happiness, nominative singular)
and balaṃ (strength, nominative singular).
The verb is vaḍḍhanti (grow, 3rd
person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). There are two attributes
to this verb: the compound abhivādanasīlissa
(for somebody, who is showing respect to those of virtuous character, genitive
singular) and the compound vuḍḍhāpacāyino
(for somebody who is paying homage to the venerable ones, genitive singular).
This last word has the adverb niccaṃ
(always) as an attribute.
Once there were two ascetics living
together and practicing austerities. Later one of them returned to the
lay life and got married. When a son was born to him and his wife, they
took the boy to see the other ascetic. He said, "May you live long!" to
the parents, but he said nothing to the child. The parents were surprised
and asked him why did he do that. The ascetic said that he could see with
his powers that the boy would die after seven more days. He sent them to
see the Buddha, who could know how to prevent his death.
When they got to the presence of the
Buddha, he again said, "May you live long!" only to the parents and nothing
to their son. In order to prevent his death, he told his parents to build
a pavilion at their house and put the child on a couch inside it. He then
sent some monks over to chant texts for protection. Many gods and other
celestial beings came to the pavilion and were in attendance. On the seventh
day, the Buddha himself arrived. Then an evil demon came to the pavilion
and stood by the entrance. He waited for an opportunity to attack the boy.
But as there were so many powerful beings around, he could not get near
him. The chanting continued through the whole night, and in the morning
the demon had to leave. The young child was saved. He then paid his respects
to the Buddha who then told him, "May you live long!" The Buddha then told
the parents that their child would live a very long life.
Many years passed and the boy grew
up. Once he came to see the Buddha and asked him how to gain longevity.
The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that those who respect people
of virtuous character and who pay homage to those worth paying homage,
not only will gain longevity, but also beauty, happiness and strength.
Word pronunciation:
abhivādanasīlissa
abhivādana
sīlissa
niccaṃ
vuḍḍhāpacāyino
vuḍḍha
apacāyino
cattāro
dhammā
vaḍḍhanti
āyu
vaṇṇo
sukhaṃ
balaṃ