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

yo ve uppatitaṃ kodhaṃ rathaṃ bhantaṃ va vāraye

tam ahaṃ sārathiṃ brūmi rasmiggāho itaro jano

(DhP 222)




Sentence Translation:

Who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot,
him I call a charioteer. Other people just hold the reins.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo                 ve uppatitaṃ kodhaṃ rathaṃ  bhantaṃ va     vāraye
|                     |          |            |            |             |        |           |
Rel.Pron.m. part.  Adj.m.     N.m.     N.m.    Adj.m. part. V.act.caus.
Nom.Sg.         |    Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.    |      3.Sg.opt.
|____________|         |_______|            |_______|         |          |
           |                           |                         |_________|          |
           |                           |___________________|                  |
           |                                            |____________________|
           |___________________________________|
                                        |______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

tam         ahaṃ    sārathiṃ   brūmi   rasmi+ggāho      itaro         jano
|                  |             |             |           |         |             |              |
Pron.m.   Pron.      N.m.    V.act.in.  N.m. Adj.m.    Adj.m.     N.m.
Acc.Sg.  Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 1.Sg.pres.    |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|                  |             |_______|           |_____|             |________|
|__________|___________|                      |______________|
       |______|
_______|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

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

ve, part.: indeed.

uppatitaṃ: uppatita-, Adj.: arisen. It is a p.p. of the verb root pat- (to fall, to fly) with the prefix ud- (up). Acc.Sg.m. = uppatitaṃ.

kodhaṃ: kodha-, N.m.: anger. Acc.Sg. = kodhaṃ.

rathaṃ: ratha-, N.m.: chariot. Acc.Sg. = rathaṃ.

bhantaṃ: bhanta-, Adj.: staggering, swaying, uncontrollable. It is a p.p. of the verb root bham- (to stagger, to whirl about). Acc.Sg.m. = bhantaṃ.

va, part.: as, like.

vāraye, V.: would prevent, would restrain. The verb root is var-. 3.Sg.act.caus.opt. = vāraye.

List of Abbreviations

tam: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.m. = tam.

ahaṃ, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaṃ.

sārathiṃ: sārathi-, N.m.: charioteer (probably from sa+ratha-; ratha-, N.m.: chariot with the prefix sa-, with). Acc.Sg. = sārathiṃ.

brūmi, V.: say, proclaim. The verb root is brū-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brūmi.

rasmiggāho: rasmiggāha-, Adj.: holding the reins. It is a compound of:
    rasmi-, N.m.: a rein.
    gāha-, Adj.: holding, grasping. It is derived from the verb root gah- (to grasp).
Euphonic combination: rasmi- + gāha- = rasmiggāha-.
Nom.Sg.m. = rasmiggāho.

itaro: itara-, Adj.: other, different. Nom.Sg. = itaro.

jano: jana-, N.m.: person, man. Nom.Sg. = jano. Here collectively: people, the crowd.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) yo ve uppatitaṃ kodhaṃ rathaṃ bhantaṃ va vāraye tam ahaṃ sārathiṃ brūmi (who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot, him I call a charioteer). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
    a) yo ve uppatitaṃ kodhaṃ rathaṃ bhantaṃ va vāraye (who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is vāraye (would restrain, 3rd person, singular, active, causative, optative). The object is the noun kodhaṃ (anger, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle uppatitaṃ (arisen, accusative singular). There is a clause, dependent on the object: rathaṃ bhantaṃ va. Here, the object is the noun rathaṃ (chariot, accusative singular) and the adjective bhantaṃ (swaying, accusative singular) is its attribute. The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the object of the main sentence. The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    b) tam ahaṃ sārathiṃ brūmi (him I call a charioteer). The subject is the pronoun ahaṃ (I, nominative singular). The verb is brūmi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). There are two objects, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the noun sārathiṃ (charioteer, accusative singular).
    2) rasmiggāho itaro jano (other people just hold the reins). The subject is the noun jano (people, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective itaro (other, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound rasmiggāho (holding the reins, nominative singular).




Commentary:

    Once a certain monk wanted to build a hut for himself. He chose a tree and was about to cut it down. But a spirit lived in that tree with her son. The spirit asked the monk not to cut down their tree, but the monk did not listen. So the spirit put her son on the tree, hoping this would prevent the monk from cutting the tree down.
    But the monk's ax was already swinging down and he was unable to stop it. The ax fell and cut of the baby's arm. The spirit became very angry and was about to kill the monk. But then she reflected and decided not to harm the monk, because she would acquire a lot of demerit. So instead, she went to see the Buddha and told him all what happened.
    The Buddha told her this verse, praising her for her self-control. He then taught her the Dharma. After reflecting on what was taught, the spirit realized the Dharma. She was offered a new tree to live in, in vicinity of the monastery.
    After this incident, the Buddha made a new rule for the monks, forbidding them to hurt plant life.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
ve
uppatitaṃ
kodhaṃ
rathaṃ
bhantaṃ
va
vāraye
tam
ahaṃ
sārathiṃ
brūmi
rasmiggāho
rasmi
gāho
itaro
jano