Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
You are like a withered leaf. Yama's men are ready for
you.
You are standing in the mouth of death. And you have
nothing to take with you.
paṇḍu+palāso
va dāni
asi yama+purisā
pi ca te
upaṭṭhitā
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Adj. N.m. part. Adv.
V.act.in. N.m. N.m. conj. conj. Pron.m. Adj.m.
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| Nom.Pl. |____| Gen.Sg.
Nom.Pl.
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List of Abbreviations
uyyoga+mukhe ca tiṭṭhasi
pātheyyam pi
ca te
na vijjati
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N.m. N.n.
conj. V.act.in. N.n. conj.
conj. Pron.m. neg. V.pas.in.
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Loc.Sg. | 2.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
|_____| Gen.Sg.
| 3.Sg.pres.
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paṇḍupalāso:
paṇḍupalāsa-,
N.m.: withered leaf. It is a compound of:
paṇḍu-,
Adj.: yellow, pale, gray, withered.
palāsa-,
N.m.: leaf.
Nom.Sg. = paṇḍupalāso.
va, part.: as, like.
dāni, Adv.: now. It is a shortened form of idāni, Adv.: now.
asi, V.: [you] are. The verb root is as-
(to be). 2.Sg.act.in.pres. = asi.
Euphonic combination: dāni
+ asi = dānisi.
yamapurisā: yamapurisa-,
N.m.: Yama's men, helpers of the king of death. It is a compound of:
yama-, N.m.: Yama, the ruler
of the underworld, the king of death.
purisa-, N.m.: person.
Nom.Pl. = yamapurisā.
List of Abbreviations
pi, conj.: also.
ca, conj.: and.
te: tvaṃ, Pron.: you. Gen.Sg. = te.
upaṭṭhitā: upaṭṭhita-, Adj.: arrived, come, keeping ready. It is a p.p. of the verb root ṭhā- (to stand) with the prefix upa- (to, by). Nom.Pl.m. = upaṭṭhitā.
uyyogamukhe: uyyogamukha-, N.n.: mouth of
death. It is a compound of:
uyyoga-, N.m.: departure, death.
It is derived from the verb root yuj- (to connect) with the prefix
ud- (out, away).
mukha-, N.n.: mouth, entrance.
Loc.Sg. = uyyogamukhe.
ca: see above.
List of Abbreviations
tiṭṭhasi, V.: [you] stand. The verb root is ṭhā-. 2.Sg.act.in.pres. = tiṭṭhasi.
pātheyyam: pātheyya-, N.n.: provisions for a journey. It is derived from the word patha-, N.m.: way, journey. Nom.Sg. = pātheyyam.
pi: see above.
ca: see above.
te: see above.
na, neg.: not.
vijjati, V.: exists, is found. The verb root is vid- (to find). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = vijjati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of four syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) paṇḍupalāso
va dānisi (you are like a withered leaf).
The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun.
The verb is asi ([you] are, 2nd person, singular, active,
indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adverb dāni
(now). The object is the compound paṇḍupalāso
(withered leaf, nominative singular). It is modified by the particle va
(as, like).
2) yamapurisā
pi ca te upaṭṭhitā
(Yama's men are ready for you). The subject is the compound yamapurisā
(Yama's men, nominative plural). The verb is in past participle, upaṭṭhitā
(standing ready, nominative plural). The object is the pronoun te
(for you, genitive singular). Two conjunctions pi (also) and ca
(and) serve mainly for metrical purposes.
3) uyyogamukhe ca tiṭṭhasi
(you are standing in the mouth of death). The subject is omitted; the verb
implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is tiṭṭhasi
([you] stand, 2nd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). It has an attribute, the compound uyyogamukhe (in the mouth
of death). The conjunction ca (and) connects the sentence to the
other ones.
4) pātheyyam
pi ca te na vijjati (and you have nothing to take with you). The subject
is noun pātheyyam (provisions for the
journey, nominative singular). The verb is vijjati (exists, 3rd
person, singular, passive, indicative, present tense). It is negated by
the negative particle na (not). The object is the pronoun te
(for you, genitive singular). Two conjunctions pi (also) and ca
(and) serve mainly for metrical purposes.
In Sāvatthi
there lived an old butcher. He was used to eating beef curry every day.
Once he put aside some meat to be cooked that day and went for a bath.
In the meantime, his wife saw the meat and sold it. Therefore, when the
butcher returned home, he realized that there would be no meat that day.
He was so angry that he went and cut off the tongue of an ox. He has his
wife to prepare it and began to eat.
When he tried to take bite of the
tongue, he bit off his own tongue. The butcher died in great pain and agony
and was reborn in a painful state.
The butcher's son was afraid that
this evil would befall him as well so he left the city and went to Taxilā.
He became a goldsmith, got married and had children. When he got old, he
and his family moved back to Sāvatthi. His
children were followers of the Buddha but he was not. The children were
concerned for their father and so one day they invited the Buddha and monks
for a meal. After the meal they told the Buddha that this offering was
on behalf of their father. They asked the Buddha to give a discourse to
the old man to help him to see the Dharma.
The Buddha told the old goldsmith
this verse (and the following ones, DhP 236, DhP 237 and DhP 238). At the
end for the discourse, the old goldsmith attained the first stage of Awakenment.
Word pronunciation:
paṇḍupalāso
paṇḍu
palāso
va
dāni
asi
yamapurisā
yama
purisā
pi
ca
te
upaṭṭhitā
uyyogamukhe
uyyoga
mukhe
tiṭṭhasi
pātheyyam
na
vijjati