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

ye jhānapasutā dhīrā nekkhammūpasame ratā

devā pi tesaṃ pihayanti sambuddhānaṃ satīmataṃ

(DhP 181)




Sentence Translation:

The wise ones, who are intent upon meditation, delighting in renunciation and calm,
completely awakened and wakeful ones, even the gods do envy them.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

ye              jhāna+pasutā   dhīrā nekkhamma+upasame    ratā
|                     |         |            |             |                |             |
Rel.Pron.m. N.n.  Adj.m.    N.m.      N.n.          N.m.     Adj.m.
Nom.Pl.         |    Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl.      |            Loc.Sg.  Nom.Pl.
|                     |_____|            |             |_________|             |
|                          |_________|                      |____________|
|                                  |_______________________|
|_______________________________|
                         |________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

devā       pi     tesaṃ   pihayanti sambuddhānaṃ satīmataṃ
|               |         |              |                |                     |
N.m.     part.  Pron.m. V.act.in.      Adj.m.           Adj.m.
Nom.Pl.   |     Gen.Pl.  3.Pl.pres.    Gen.Pl.          Gen.Pl.
|________|          |_______|_________|____________|
       |                       |____|
       |_______________|
___________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

ye: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

jhānapasutā: jhānapasuta-, Adj.: intent upon meditation. It is a compound of:
    jhāna-, N.n.: meditation, concentration. It is derived from the verb root jhe- (to meditate, to concentrate).
    pasuta-, Adj.: pursuing, intent upon.
Nom.Pl.m. = jhānapasutā.

dhīrā: dhīra-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Pl.m. = dhīrā.

nekkhammūpasame: nekkhammūpasama-, N.m.: renunciation and calm. It is a compound of:
    nekkhamma-, N.n.: renunciation, giving up [the world].
    upasama-, N.m.: calm, quiet, tranquility. It is derived from the verb root sam- (to be appeased) with the prefix upa- (towards, up).
Euphonic combination: nekkhamma- + upasamma- = nekkhammūpasama-.
Loc.Sg. = nekkhammūpasame.

List of Abbreviations

ratā: rata-, Adj.: delighting in. It is a p.p. of the verb ram- (to delight in, to enjoy). Nom.Pl.m. = ratā.

devā: deva-, N.m.: god, celestial being. Nom.Pl. = devā.

pi, conj.: also.

tesaṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Pl.m. = tesaṃ.

pihayanti, V.: envy, covet. The verb root is pih-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = pihayanti.

sambuddhānaṃ: sambuddha-, Adj.: completely awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb sam+budh-, to awaken completely. Prefix sam- denotes the completeness of the action, "together", "wholly". The verb budh- means to wake up. Gen.Pl.m. = sambuddhānaṃ.

satīmataṃ: satimant-, Adj.: mindful, wakeful. The word sati-, N.f.: mindfulness, wakefulness, alertness, with the possessive suffix -mant. The form satīmant- is used in poetry.
Gen.Pl.m. = satīmataṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
    1) ye jhānapasutā dhīrā nekkhammūpasame ratā (the wise ones, who are intent upon meditation, delighting in renunciation and calm). The subject is the noun dhīrā (wise ones, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the compound jhānapasutā (intent upon meditation, nominative plural) and the past participle ratā (delighting in, nominative plural). This last word has its own attribute, the compound nekkhammūpasame (in renunciation and calm, locative singular). the verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The relative adverb ye (those, who; nominative plural) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following one.
    2) devā pi tesaṃ pihayanti sambuddhānaṃ satīmataṃ (even the gods do envy them, [those] completely awakened and wakeful ones). The subject is the noun devā (gods, nominative plural). It is modified by the particle pi (even). The verb is pihayanti (envy, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the pronoun tesaṃ (them, genitive plural) with its two attributes, the adjectives sambuddhānaṃ (completely awakened ones, genitive plural) and satīmataṃ (wakeful ones, genitive plural).




Commentary:

    Once, when the Buddha was staying in Sāvatthi, he was challenged by some other ascetics to perform a miracle. He therefore performed the Twin Miracle and proceeded to the Tāvatimsa heaven to teach Abhidharma there. His mother had been reborn in the Tusita heaven, but went to Tāvatimsa to learn the Teaching. After hearing the Dharma from the Buddha, his mother together with many other gods reached the first level of Awakenment.
    The Buddha spent three months in Tāvatimsa. Venerable Sāriputta was spending the Rain Retreat in Samkassa and taught the Abhidharma, as the Buddha instructed him. At the end of the Retreat Venerable Moggallāna went to Tāvatimsa to see the Buddha and was informed that the Buddha would be coming back to Samkassa on the fool moon day at the end of the Rain Retreat.
    On that day the Buddha appeared, six colored rays shining from his body. A great number of gods accompanied him and paid his homage to him before they left. Sāriputta exclaimed how magnificent the gods looked and how extraordinary that both human beings and gods respect the Buddha so much.
    The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that indeed even the gods envy a buddha his qualities.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ye
jhānapasutā
jhāna
pasutā
dhīrā
nekkhammūpasame
nekkhamma
upasame
ratā
devā
pi
tesaṃ
pihayanti
sambuddhānaṃ
satīmataṃ