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

appamādo amatapadaṃ pamādo maccuno padaṃ

appamattā na mīyanti ye pamattā yathā matā

(DhP 21)



Translation:

Conscientiousness is the state of deathlessness. Negligence is the state of death.
The conscientious ones do not die. Those, who are negligent, are as if dead.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

a+ppamādo    a+mata+padaṃ    pamādo  maccuno    padaṃ
|          |          |      |         |              |               |              |

neg. N.m.    neg. N.n.   N.n.        N.m.        N.m.        N.n.

|     Nom.Sg.   |     |    Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.   Gen.Sg.   Nom.Sg.

|_____|           |___|          |              |               |________|

     |                   |_______|              |____________|

     |______________|

List of Abbreviations

a+ppamattā    na    mīyanti        ye         pamattā    yathā       matā
|           |          |          |                |               |             |              |

neg.  Adj.m.  neg.  V.med.in.  Rel.Pron.  Adj.m.   Rel.Adv.   Adj.m.

|      Nom.Pl.   |      3.Pl.pres.   Nom.Pl.  Nom.Pl.       |         Nom.Pl.

|______|          |______|               |________|              |________|

     |____________|                             |________________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

appamādo: appamāda-, N.m.: conscientiousness, non-negligence. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamāda = appamāda). Nom.Sg. = appamādo.

amatapadaṃ: amatapada-, N.n.: state of deathlessness. A compound of:
    amata-, N.n.: deathlessness. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word mata-, Adj.: dead.
A p.p. of mar- (to die).
    pada-, N.n.: state, place.

Nom.Sg. = amatapadaṃ.

pamādo: pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Nom.Sg. = pamādo.

List of Abbreviations

maccuno: maccu-, N.m.: death. Gen.Sg. = maccuno.

padaṃ: pada-, N.n.: state, place. Nom.Sg. = padaṃ.

appamattā: appamatta-, Adj.: conscientious, non-negligent. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect).
Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamatta = appamatta).

Nom.Pl. = appamattā.

List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

mīyanti, V.: die. The verb mar- (to die). 3.pl.in.med.pres. = mīyanti.

ye: yat-, Rel.Pron.: those, who. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

pamattā: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect).
Nom.Pl. = pamattā.

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as if, like.

matā: mata-, Adj.: dead. A p.p. of the verb mar- (to die). Nom.Pl.m. = matā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four practically separated sentences. First of them is appamādo amatapadaṃ (conscientiousness is the state of deathlessness). The subject is the word appamādo (conscientiousness, nominative singular). The verb to be is omitted. The object is the word amatapadaṃ (state of deathlessness, nominative singular).
    Second sentence is pamādo maccuno padaṃ (negligence is the state of death). The subject is the word pamādo (negligence, nominative singular). Again, the verb to be is omitted. The object is the word padaṃ (state, nominative singular) with the attribute maccuno (death's, genitive singular).

    Third sentence is appamattā na mīyanti (the conscientious ones do not die). Here the subject is appamattā (the conscientious ones, nominative plural). The verb here is mīyanti (die, 3rd person, plural, medium, indicative, present tense) and it is negated by the negative particle na (not).

    Last sentence is ye pamattā yathā matā (those, who are negligent, are as if dead). This is actually a compound sentence. The first half is ye pamattā(those, who are negligent). The subject is ye (those, who, nominative plural). The verb to be is omitted. The object is pamattā (negligent, nominative plural). The second part is yathā matā (as if dead). Here the subject should be te (they) but it is omitted, as is the verb to be. The object is the word matā (dead, nominative plural). The relative adverb yathā (as, like) connects the two halves of this sentence.



Commentary:

    Conscientiousness is one of the most important characteristics to be developed. Without it, we can not proceed on our path towards awakenment. If we are negligent, how can we find energy to purify our minds?
    So, the conscientiousness is the path to deathlessness. Only with it we can find our way to the final goal, Nirvana, which is the deathless state. Negligence on the other hand is the way to the repeated cycle of birth and death.

    Conscientious people are able to reach the Nirvana, thus escaping the cycle of rebirths, whereas those, who are negligent, can not escape. They might as well be dead already.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

appamādo
amatapadaṃ

pamādo

maccuno

padaṃ

appamattā

na

mīyanti

ye

pamattā

yathā

matā