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

attā hi attano nātho

attā hi attano gati

tasmā saññamayattānaṃ

assaṃ bhadraṃ va vāṇijo

(DhP 380)




Sentence Translation:

One is indeed one's own lord.
One is indeed one's own destiny.
Therefore restrain yourself,
just like a merchant restrains a good horse.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

attā          hi     attano     nātho
|                |          |             |
N.m.       part.   N.m.      N.m.
Nom.Sg.    |     Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|                |          |_______|
|_________|_________|
         |____|

List of Abbreviations

attā          hi    attano      gati
|                |         |            |
N.m.       part.  N.m.      N.f.
Nom.Sg.    |    Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|                |         |_______|
|_________|_________|
         |____|

List of Abbreviations

tasmā   saññamaya attānaṃ
|                   |              |
Pron.   V.act.caus.    N.m.
Abl.Sg.  2.Sg.imp.   Acc.Sg.
|                   |________|
|                          |___________________________
|_________________________|

List of Abbreviations

assaṃ   bhadraṃ va    vāṇijo
|                 |         |         |
N.m.      Adj.m. part.   N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.
|_________|          |         |
         |__________|_____|
                  |_____|
_____________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

āttā: attan-, N.m.: self. Nom.Sg. = attā.

hi, part.: indeed.

attano: attan-, N.m./Pron.: self, oneself. Gen.Sg. = attano.

nātho: nātha-, N.m.: lord, protector. Nom.Sg. = nātho.

attā: see above.

hi: see above.

attano: see above.

List of Abbreviations

gati: gati-, N.f.: direction, course. It is derived from the verb gam- (to go). Nom.Sg. = gati.

tasmā: tad-, Pron.: that. Abl.Sg. = tasmā (therefore, lit. "from that").

saññamaya, V.: restrain, control. The verb root is yam- (to restrain) with the prefix saṃ- (together). 2.Sg.act.caus.imp. = saññamaya.

attānaṃ: attan-, N.m.: self. Acc.Sg. = attānaṃ.

assaṃ: assa-, N.m.: horse. Acc.Sg. = assaṃ.

bhadraṃ: bhadra-, Adj.: good. Acc.Sg.m. = bhadraṃ.

va, part.: as, like.

vāṇijo: vāṇija-, N.m.: merchant, trader. Nom.Sg. = vāṇijo.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) attā hi attano nātho (one is indeed one's own lord). The subject is the noun attā (one, self; nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the noun nātho (lord, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun/pronoun attano (one's own, genitive singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    2) attā hi attano gati (one is indeed one's own destiny). The subject is the noun attā (one, self; nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the noun gati (course, direction, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun/pronoun attano (one's own, genitive singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    3) tasmā saññamayattānaṃ assaṃ bhadraṃ va vāṇijo (therefore restrain yourself, just like a merchant restrains a good horse). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
    a) tasmā saññamayattānaṃ (therefore restrain yourself). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is saññamaya (restrain, 2nd person, singular, active, causative, imperative). The object is the noun attānaṃ (oneself, accusative singular). The pronoun tasmā (from that, therefore, ablative singular) introduces the sentence and connects it to the previous one.
    b) assaṃ bhadraṃ va vāṇijo (just like a merchant restrains a good horse). The subject is the noun vāṇijo (merchant, nominative singular). The object is the noun assaṃ (horse, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective bhadraṃ (good, accusative singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.




Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 379).
    We are makers of our own destiny and we should not wait for any higher power to interfere in our lives and bring us happiness. By our actions, words and thoughts we every moment create our future. Therefore we must control our minds and tame it, just like if it was a horse. Only then our mind will "behave" and we will attain happiness.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attā
hi
attano
nātho
gati
tasmā
saññamaya
attānaṃ
assaṃ
bhadraṃ
va
vāṇijo