| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The person without learning grows old like an ox.
His flesh grows; his wisdom does not.
appa+ssuto ayaṃ
puriso balivaddo va jīrati
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Adj. Adj.m. Pron.m. N.m.
N.m. part. V.act.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.caus.
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List of Abbreviations
maṃsāni
tassa vaḍḍhanti
paññā tassa
na vaḍḍhati
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N.n. Pron.m.
V.act.in. N.f. Pron.m.
neg. V.act.in.
Nom.Pl. Gen.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg.
| 3.Sg.pres.
|__________|
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appassuto: appassuta-, Adj.: with small
knowledge, uneducated, ignorant. It is a compound of:
appa-, Adj.: little, few.
suta-, N.n.: knowledge, learning.
Lit. it is a p.p. of the verb su- (to hear).
Euphonic combination: appa- + suta- = appassuta-.
Nom.Sg.m. = appassuto.
ayaṃ: idaṃ-,
Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.m. = ayaṃ.
Euphonic combination: appassuto + ayaṃ
= appassut'āyaṃ.
puriso: purisa-, N.m.: person. Nom.Sg. = puriso.
balivaddo: balivadda-, N.m.: ox. Nom.Sg. = balivaddo.
va, part.: as, like.
jīrati, V.: get old, to decay. It is a causative of the verb root jar- (to crush). 3.Sg.act.caus. = jīrati.
List of Abbreviations
maṃsāni: maṃsa-, N.n.: flesh, meat. Nom.Pl. = maṃsāni.
tassa: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Sg.m. = tassa.
vaḍḍhanti, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhanti.
paññā: paññā-, N.f.: wisdom. Nom.Sg. = paññā.
tassa: see above.
na, neg.: not.
vaḍḍhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of three syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) appassut'āyaṃ
puriso balivaddo va jīrati (the person
without learning grows old like an ox). The subject is the noun puriso
(person, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the adjective appassuto
(without learning, nominative singular) and the pronoun ayaṃ
(this, nominative singular). The verb is jīrati
(grows old, 3rd person, singular, active, causative). There
is a clause, balivaddo va (like an ox). Here, the noun balivaddo
(ox, nominative singular) is the subject, the particle va (as, like)
connects the clause to the rest of the sentence.
2) maṃsāni
tassa vaḍḍhanti (his flesh grows). The
subject is the noun maṃsāni
(meat, nominative plural) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa
(his, genitive singular). The verb is vaḍḍhanti
(grow, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
3) paññā
tassa na vaḍḍhati (his wisdom does not).
The subject is the noun paññā (wisdom,
nominative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa (his,
genitive singular). The verb is vaḍḍhati
(grow, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
It is negated by the negative particle na (not).
There was a monk named Lāludāyi.
He was not very bright. He was never able to say things, which were appropriate
for the occasion. On happy occasions he would talk about suffering and
sorrow and on sorrowful occasions he would talk about happiness and joy.
He was also never able to understand that he did and said something inappropriate
in these cases. The Buddha spoke this verse in reference to Lāludāyi.
He also revealed the following story:
in one of his former lives, Lāludāyi
had been a farmer. He had two oxen to plow the fields. Suddenly one of
them died. The farmer asked his son to go to the king and request another
ox. But the son told him to go himself and taught him a verse to say in
front of the king.
But the farmer made a mistake and
instead of "My ox died, please give me another one", he said "My ox died,
please take the other one away from me".
Fortunately, the king was very wise
and understood that Lāludāyi
just made a mistake and gave him sixteen oxen to help him with his farming.
Word pronunciation:
appassuto
appa
suto
ayaṃ
puriso
balivaddo
va
jīrati
maṃsāni
tassa
vaḍḍhanti
paññā
na
vaḍḍhati