Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
A disciple will investigate the earth
and this Yama's world with its deities.
A disciple will understand this well taught Dharma-verse, as a
skilful person picks flowers.
sekho pathaviṃ vicessati yama+lokaṃ
ca imaṃ sadevakaṃ
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N.m. N.f. V.act. N.m. N.m. conj. Pron.m.
Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.fut. | Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
sekho dhamma+padaṃ sudesitaṃ kusalo
puppham iva pacessati
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N.m. N.m. N.n. Adj.n. N.m. N.n. part. V.act.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. |
3.Sg.fut.
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sekho: sekha-, N.m.: disciple, pupil, student, a Buddhist disciple. Nom.Sg. = sekho.
pathaviṃ: pathavī-, N.f.: earth. Acc.Sg. = pathaviṃ.
vicessati: will investigate. The verb is vicināti (to investigate, to examine), the root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the prefix vi- ("detail"). 3.Sg.act.fut = vicessati.
yamalokaṃ: yamaloka-,
N.m.: Yama's world. A compound of:
yama-, N.m.: Yama, the ruler of the underworld, the
king of death.
loka-, N.m.; world.
Acc.Sg. = yamalokaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
ca, conj.: and.
imaṃ: idaṃ-, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.m. = imaṃ.
sadevakaṃ: sadevaka-,
Adj.: with the gods. The word deva-, N.m.: god, deity, with the prefix
sa- (with, together) and suffix -ka- (the suffix for forming adjectives).
Acc.Sg.m. = sadevakaṃ.
sekho: see above.
List of Abbreviations
dhammapadaṃ: dhammapada-,
N.n.: verse on Dharma, a portion of the Dharma.
A compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived
from the verb dha-, to hold.
Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
pada-, N.n.: portion, verse.
Acc.Sg. = dhammapadaṃ.
sudesitaṃ: sudesita-, Adj.: well taught. The word desita-, Adj.: taught (a p.p. of the verb root dis-, to teach) with the prefix su- (well, good). Acc.Sg.n. = sudesitaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
kusalo: kusala-, Adj.: skilful. As a N.m.: a skilful man. Nom.Sg. = kusalo.
puppham: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Sg. = puppham.
iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).
pacessati: will understand, will know, will realize. The verb is pacināti, to understand, to realize; but its different meaning is to gather, to collect, to pick. Both meanings are used here: understand and realize the world and the verses and pick the flowers. The verb root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.fut. = pacessati.
List of Abbreviations
The two lines of this verse form
two syntactically separated sentences.
In the first one, the subject is the noun sekho (disciple,
nominative singular). The verb is vicessati (will investigate, 3rd person,
singular, active, future tense). There are two paratactic objects: pathaviṃ
(earth, accusative singular) and yamalokaṃ (Yama's world, accusative
singular) with two attributes, imaṃ (as above) and sadevakaṃ (with
the gods, accusative singular). These two objects are connected by the conjunction
ca (and).
In the second sentence, the subjects is again the noun sekho
(as above). The verb is pacessati ("will understand" and "will
pick", 3rd person, singular, active, future tense). The object is the noun
dhammapadaṃ (verse on the Dharma, accusative singular) with one attribute,
the adjective sudesitaṃ (well taught, accusative singular). There is
a parenthetic clause, kusalo puppham iva (like a skilful [one] flowers).
Here the noun-adjective kusalo (skilful [one], nominative singular) is
the subject. The object is the noun puppham (flower, accusative singular).
The verb is not in the clause itself, implying the verb pacessati from
the main sentence. The particle iva (as, like) connects the clause to
the sentence.
The story for this verse is the
same as for the previous one (DhP 44).
The disciple of the Buddha is able to investigate this world.
By understanding and realizing the Dharma we can also fully understand the whole
world with all its beings, because the Dharma is after all concerned just with
this world, its conditions and our position in this world. So, just as a skilful
garland-maker can pick flowers easily, we, as Buddha's followers, can investigate
the Dharma and with it the whole world.
Word pronunciation:
sekho
pathaviṃ
vicessati
yamalokaṃ
ca
imaṃ
sadevakaṃ
dhammapadaṃ
sudesitaṃ
kusalo
puppham
iva
pacessati