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

yathā agāraṃ ducchannaṃ vuṭṭhi samativijjhati

evaṃ abhāvitaṃ cittaṃ rāgo samativijjhati

(DhP 13)



Translation:

As a poorly covered house is penetrated by a rain,
thus an undeveloped mind is penetrated by passion.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

yathā       agāraṃ du+cchannaṃ vuṭṭhi   samativijjhati
|                   |        |          |            |               |

Rel.Adv.    N.n.   pref.  Adj.n.     N.f.       V.act.in.

|              Acc.Sg.  |     Acc.Sg.  Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.pres.

|                   |        |_____|             |________|

|                   |_______|                          |

|                          |__________________|

|_______________________|

                  |___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

evaṃ   a+bhāvitaṃ   cittaṃ       rāgo   samativijjhati
|           |         |             |             |                |

Adv.  neg.   Adj.n.     N.n.       N.m.      V.act.in.

|           |     Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.pres.

|           |_____|             |             |_________|

|                |__________|                     |

|                         |_________________|

|______________________|

___________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

agāraṃ: agāra-, N.n.: house, home. Ac.Sg. = agāraṃ.

ducchannaṃ: ducchanna-, Adj.: badly covered. It is a p.p. of the verb chad- (channa) with the prefix du- (bad). Acc.Sg.n. = ducchannaṃ.

vuṭṭhi: vuṭṭhi-, N.f.: rain. Nom.Sg. = vuṭṭhi.

samativijjhati, V.: to penetrate. The verb vidh- (to pierce, to perforate) with prefixes sam- (altogether) and ati- (above, extremely). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = samativijjhati.

List of Abbreviations

evaṃ, Adv.: thus

abhāvitaṃ: abhāvita-, Adj.: undeveloped. It is a p.p. of the verb bhāveti (to develop, to meditate) with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.n. = abhāvitaṃ.

cittaṃ: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaṃ.

rāgo: rāga-, N.m.: passion. Nom.Sg. = rāgo.

samativijjhati, V.: see above

List of Abbreviations

    Two lines of this verse form two sentences, which are both parts of one compound sentence.

    First one is yathā agāraṃ ducchannaṃ vuṭṭhi samativijjhati (as a poorly covered house is penetrated by a rain). Here the subject is vuṭṭhi (rain, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is agāraṃ (the house, accusative singular). This word has one attribute ducchannaṃ (poorly covered, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The relative clause yathā (like, as) connects this sentence to the following one (in a pattern yathā... - evaṃ...).

    The second part is evaṃ abhāvitaṃ cittaṃ rāgo samativijjhati (thus an undeveloped mind is penetrated by passion). The subject is rāgo (passion, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is cittaṃ (the mind, accusative singular). This word has one attribute -- abhāvitaṃ (undeveloped, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The adverb evaṃ (thus) connects this sentence to the previous one.



Commentary:

    A roof is the most important part of any house. If the roof is not well done, if we try to "cheat" and use cheap material of poor quality, we can be surprised when a strong rain comes. The roof will not be able to hold off the water and it will leak. Everything inside the house then becomes wet instantly - and after the rain we can start building again.

    In the same way, the mind is the most important part of the human being. If it is not "well developed", if we have not practiced meditation earnestly, it will also "leak". The passions, hatred and other stuff will enter our mind and make it difficult for us to purify our minds. After one such "rain" we can start "rebuilding" our mind again.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yathā
agāraṃ

ducchannaṃ

vuṭṭhi

samativijjhati

evaṃ

abhāvitaṃ

cittaṃ

rāgo