Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot,
him I call a charioteer. Other people just hold the reins.
yo
ve uppatitaṃ kodhaṃ
rathaṃ bhantaṃ
va vāraye
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Rel.Pron.m. part. Adj.m.
N.m. N.m. Adj.m. part. V.act.caus.
Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
tam ahaṃ
sārathiṃ
brūmi rasmi+ggāho
itaro jano
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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.
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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).
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.
Word pronunciation:
yo
ve
uppatitaṃ
kodhaṃ
rathaṃ
bhantaṃ
va
vāraye
tam
ahaṃ
sārathiṃ
brūmi
rasmiggāho
rasmi
gāho
itaro
jano