Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Who will investigate this earth and
this Yama's world with its deities?
Who will understand this well taught Dharma-verse, as a skilful
person picks flowers?
ko imaṃ pathaviṃ vicessati
yama+lokaṃ ca imaṃ sadevakaṃ
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Pron.m. Pron.f. N.f. V.act. N.m. N.m. conj.
Pron.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.fut. | Acc.Sg. |
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
ko dhamma+padaṃ sudesitaṃ kusalo
puppham iva pacessati
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Pron.m. N.m. N.n. Adj.n. N.m. N.n. part. V.act.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.fut.
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ko: kiṃ-, Inter.Pron.: who. Nom.Sg.m. = ko.
imaṃ: idaṃ-, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.f. = imaṃ.
pathaviṃ: pathavī-, N.f.: earth. Acc.Sg. = pathaviṃ.
vicessati: will investigate. The verb is vicināti (to investigate, to examine), the root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the prefix vi- ("detail"). 3.Sg.act.fut = vicessati.
List of Abbreviations
yamalokaṃ: yamaloka-,
N.m.: Yama's world. A compound of:
yama-, N.m.: Yama, the ruler of the underworld, the
king of death.
loka-, N.m.; world.
Acc.Sg. = yamalokaṃ.
ca, conj.: and.
imaṃ: see above.
sadevakaṃ: sadevaka-,
Adj.: with the gods. The word deva-, N.m.: god, deity, with the prefix
sa- (with, together) and suffix -ka- (the suffix for forming adjectives).
Acc.Sg.m. = sadevakaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
ko: see above.
dhammapadaṃ: dhammapada-,
N.n.: verse on Dharma, a portion of the Dharma.
A compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived
from the verb dha-, to hold.
Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
pada-, N.n.: portion, verse.
Acc.Sg. = dhammapadaṃ.
sudesitaṃ: sudesita-, Adj.: well taught. The word desita-, Adj.: taught (a p.p. of the verb root dis-, to teach) with the prefix su- (well, good). Acc.Sg.n. = sudesitaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
kusalo: kusala-, Adj.: skilful. As a N.m.: a skilful man. Nom.Sg. = kusalo.
puppham: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Sg. = puppham.
iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).
pacessati: will understand, will know, will realize. The verb is pacināti, to understand, to realize; but its different meaning is to gather, to collect, to pick. Both meanings are used here: understand and realize the world and the verses and pick the flowers. The verb root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.fut. = pacessati.
List of Abbreviations
The two lines of this verse form
two syntactically separated sentences.
In the first one, the subject is the interrogative pronoun
ko (who, nominative singular). The verb is vicessati (will investigate,
3rd person, singular, active, future tense). There are two paratactic objects:
pathaviṃ (earth, accusative singular) with the attribute imaṃ
(this, accusative singular) and yamalokaṃ (Yama's world, accusative singular)
with two attributes, imaṃ (as above) and sadevakaṃ (with the gods,
accusative singular). These two objects are connected by the conjunction ca
(and).
In the second sentence, the subjects is again the interrogative
pronoun ko (as above). The verb is pacessati ("will understand"
and "will pick", 3rd person, singular, active, future tense). The
object is the noun dhammapadaṃ (verse on the Dharma, accusative singular)
with one attribute, the adjective sudesitaṃ (well taught, accusative
singular). There is a parenthetic clause, kusalo puppham iva (like a
skilful [one] flowers). Here the noun-adjective kusalo (skilful [one],
nominative singular) is the subject. The object is the noun puppham (flower,
accusative singular). The verb is not in the clause itself, implying the verb
pacessati from the main sentence. The particle iva (as, like)
connects the clause to the sentence.
A group of monks accompanied the
Buddha to a certain village and then they all returned to the monastery. The
monks started to talk about the trip. They paid close attention to the condition
of the land: whether it was level or hilly, whether the soil was clayey or sandy
etc.
The Buddha visited them and when overheard the topic of their
discussion, he told them to better concentrate on their own bodies. He said,
that the earth is external and that they should strive to examine their own
bodies and understand what they really are.
He then added that by understanding one's own body we are also able
to understand the whole world. We will be able to realize the Dharma, just as
a skilful garland-maker makes the garlands.
Word pronunciation:
ko
imaṃ
pathaviṃ
vicessati
yamalokaṃ
ca
sadevakaṃ
dhammapadaṃ
sudesitaṃ
kusalo
puppham
iva
pacessati