Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
If one should conquer thousands of people in the battle,
and if one should conquer just one thing - himself, he
indeed is the victor of the highest battle.
yo
sahassaṃ sahassena saṅgāme
mānuse jine
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Rel.Pron. Num.n. Num.n.
N.m. N.m. V.act.
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Ins.Sg.
Loc.Sg. Acc.Pl. 3.Sg.opt.
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List of Abbreviations
ekaṃ
ca jeyyaṃ attānaṃ
sa ve saṅgāma+ji+uttamo
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Num.m. conj. V.act.
N.m. Pron.m. part. N.m. Suf. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt.
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yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.
sahassaṃ: sahassa-, Num.n.: thousand. Acc.Sg. = sahassaṃ.
sahassena: sahassa-, Num.n.: thousand. Ins.Sg. = sahassena.
saṅgāme: saṅgāma-, N.m.: battle, fight. Loc.Sg. = saṅgāme.
mānuse: mānusa-, N.m.: person, man. Acc.Pl. = mānuse.
jine, V.: should conquer. The verb root is ji- (to conquer, to win). 3.Sg.act.opt. = jine. (Note that this word has two possible forms: jine and jeyyaṃ).
ekaṃ: eka-, Num.: one. Acc.Sg.m. = ekaṃ.
ca, conj.: and.
List of Abbreviations
jeyyaṃ, V.: should conquer. The verb root is ji- (to conquer, to win). 3.Sg.act.opt. = jeyyaṃ. (Note that this word has two possible forms: jine and jeyyaṃ).
attānaṃ: attan-, N.m.: self. Acc.Sg. = attānaṃ.
sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = sa (the more usual form is so).
ve, part.: indeed.
saṅgāmaj'uttamo:
saṅgāmaj'uttama-,
Adj.: victor in the highest battle. It is a compound of:
saṅgāma-,
N.m.: battle, fight.
ji-, Suf.: victor, victorious.
It is derived from the verb root ji- (to win, to conquer).
uttama-, Adj.: highest, noble.
Euphonic combination saṅgāmaji-
+ uttama- = saṅgāmaj'uttama-.
Nom.Sg.m. = saṅgāmaj'uttamo.
List of Abbreviations
This sentence consists of two related
sentences. They are:
1) yo sahassaṃ
sahassena saṅgāme
mānuse jine ekaṃ
ca jeyyaṃ attānaṃ
(if one should conquer thousands of people in the battle, and if one should
conquer just one thing - himself). This can be further subdivided into
two parts:
a) yo sahassaṃ
sahassena saṅgāme
mānuse jine (if one should conquer thousands
of people in the battle). The subject is the relative pronoun yo
(who, nominative singular). The verb is jine (should conquer, 3rd
person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun saṅgāme
(in the battle, locative singular). The object is the noun mānuse
(people, accusative plural). The numeral sahassaṃ
sahassena (thousand by thousand; first number is in accusative singular,
second in instrumental singular) is an attribute to the object.
b) ekaṃ
ca jeyyaṃ attānaṃ
(and if one should conquer just one thing - himself). The subject is still
the relative pronoun yo from the previous part of the sentence.
The verb is jeyyaṃ (should conquer,
3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun
attānaṃ
(oneself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the numeral ekaṃ
(one, accusative singular). The conjunction ca (and) connects this
sentence to the previous one.
2) sa ve saṅgāmaj'uttamo
(he indeed is the victor of the highest battle). The subject is the pronoun
sa (he, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the
verb "to be". The object is the compound saṅgāmaj'uttamo
( victor of the highest battle, nominative singular). The particle ve
(indeed) strengthens this sentence.
The story for this verse is the same
as for the previous one.
The highest battle does not take place
on the battlefield, or in the political or academic arena, but only in
our own minds. The victor of the highest battle is not somebody who conquers
millions of enemies, who wins over his opponents, but a person who conquers
the most difficult thing - his own mind. In other words, only an Arahant
can be truly called a victor, because he won the final battle and he does
not have to "fight" any more.
Word pronunciation:
yo
sahassam
sahassena
saṅgāme
mānuse
jine
ekaṃ
ca
jeyyaṃ
attānaṃ
sa
ve
saṅgāmaj'uttamo
saṅgāmaji
uttamo