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

etha passath'imaṃ lokaṃ cittaṃ rājarath'ūpamaṃ

yattha bālā visīdanti n'atthi saṅgo vijānataṃ

(DhP 171)




Sentence Translation:

Come and look at this world, similar to a beautiful king's chariot.
Where the fools sink down, for those, who understand, there is no attachment.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

etha        passatha   imaṃ    lokaṃ   cittaṃ   rāja+ratha+upamaṃ
|                    |            |           |            |         |        |           |
V.act.        V.act.   Pron.m.  N.m.    Adj.m. N.m. N.m.   Adj.m.
2.Pl.imp. 2.Pl.imp. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.   |____|       Acc.Sg.
|___________|            |______|             |            |_________|
         |                             |                   |___________|
         |                             |________________|
         |________________________|

List of Abbreviations

yattha       bālā      visīdanti  na       atthi       saṅgo  vijānataṃ
|                  |               |         |            |             |             |
Rel.Adv.   N.m.     V.act.in.  neg.  V.act.in.     N.m.    Adj.m.
|             Nom.Sg. 3.Pl.pres.   |     3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl.
|                  |________|          |_______|            |             |
|______________|                         |__________|_______|
            |                                                |_____|
            |_____________________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

etha, V.: come. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix ā- (towards). 3.Pl.act.imp. = etha.

passatha, V.: see, look at. The verb root is dis- (to see). 2.Pl.act.imp. = passatha.

imaṃ: idaṃ, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.m. = imaṃ.
Euphonic combination: passatha + imaṃ = passath'imaṃ.

lokaṃ: loka-, N.m.; world.

cittaṃ: citta-, Adj.: bright, beautiful. Acc.Sg.m. = cittaṃ.

rājarath'ūpamaṃ: rājarath'ūpama-, Adj.: similar to the king's chariot. It is a compound of:
    rājaratha-, N.m.: king's chariots. It is a compound of:
        rājan-, N.m.: king. The compound form of rājan- is rāja-.
        ratha-, N.m.: chariot.
upama-, Adj.: similar, -like.
Euphonic combination: rājaratha- + upama- = rājarath'ūpama-.
Acc.Sg.m. = rājarath'ūpamaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

yattha, Rel.Adv.: where.

bālā: bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person. Nom.Pl. = bālā.

visīdanti, V.: sink down, be sad, be dejected. The verb root is sad- (to sink) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = visīdanti.

na, neg.: not. 158

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

saṅgo: saṅga-, N.m.: clinging, attachment, bond. Nom.Sg. = saṅgo.

vijānataṃ: vijānant-, Adj.: knowing, understanding. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb ñā- (to know) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). Gen.Pl.m. = vijānataṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) etha passath'imaṃ lokaṃ cittaṃ rājarath'ūpamaṃ (come and look at this world, similar to a beautiful king's chariot). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person plural pronoun. There are two verbs, etha (come, 2nd person, plural, active, imperative) and passatha (look at, 2nd person, plural, active, imperative). The object is the noun lokaṃ (world, accusative singular). It has two attributes, the pronoun imaṃ (this, accusative singular) and the compound rājarath'ūpamaṃ (similar to the king's chariot, accusative singular). This last word has the adjective cittaṃ (beautiful, accusative singular) as an attribute.
    2) yattha bālā visīdanti n'atthi saṅgo vijānataṃ (where the fools sink down, for those, who understand, there is no attachment). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) yattha bālā visīdanti (where the fools sink down). The subject is the noun bālā (fools, nominative plural). The verb is visīdanti (sink down, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The relative adverb yattha (where) connects this segment to the following one.
    b) n'atthi saṅgo vijānataṃ (for those, who understand, there is no attachment). The subject is the noun saṅgo (attachment, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has an attribute, the active present participle vijānatāṃ (for those, who understand, genitive plural).




Commentary:

    Prince Abhaya was sent to repress some rebellion at the frontier. He did this job very successfully and so king Bimbisāra gave him the honor of a ruler for seven days. He was also given a young dancing girl for entertainment. But on the seventh day the girl died from exhaustion. The prince was very shocked and sad.
    He went to see the Buddha, who consoled him with this verse, saying that we should not be attached to worldly things.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

etha
passatha
imaṃ
lokaṃ
cittaṃ
rājarath'ūpamaṃ
rāja
ratha
upamaṃ
yattha
bālā
visīdanti
na
atthi
saṅgo
vijānataṃ