Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The scent of flowers, sandal, tagara
or jasmine does not go against the wind.
The scent of true ones goes against the wind. The true person
pervades all directions.
na puppha+gandho paṭi+vātam
eti na candanaṃ tagara+mallikā vā
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neg. N.n. N.m. ind. Adv. V.act.in. neg. N.n. N.n.
N.f. conj.
| | Nom.Sg. |____| 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg.
| Nom.Sg. |
| |______| | | |
| |______| |
| | |_________| | |__________|_________|
| |________________| |___________|
|_________________| |
|_________________________________|_____________________________
List of Abbreviations
sataṃ ca gandho paṭi+vātam
eti sabbā disā sap+puriso pavāyati
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Adj.m. conj. N.m. ind. Adv. V.act.in. Adj.f. N.f.
Adj. N.m. V.act.in.
Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg. |____| 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl.
| Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|________|______| |________| |_______|
|____| |
|____________________| |
|___________|
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|_______________|
_______________|___________________________________|
na, neg.: not.
pupphagandho: pupphagandha-,
N.m.: the scent of a flower. It is a compound of:
puppha-, N.n.: flower.
gandha-, N.m.: scent.
Nom.Sg. = pupphagandho.
paṭivātam,
Adv.: against the wind. It is a compound of:
paṭi-, pref.ind.: against.
vāta-, N.m.: wind.
As an Adv.: paṭivātam.
List of Abbreviations
eti: goes. The verb root is i- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres = eti.
na: see above.
candanaṃ: candana-, N.n.: sandal. Nom.Sg. = candanaṃ.
tagaramallikā: tagaramallikā-,
N.f.:
tagara-, N.n: the incense obtained from a kind of shrub
(in Latin: Tabernaemontana coronaria).
mallikā-, N.f.: jasmine.
Nom.Sg. = tagaramallikā.
List of Abbreviations
vā, conj.: or.
sataṃ: sant-, Adj.: real, good, true. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Thus sant- means literally means "existing", "being". Gen.Pl. = sataṃ.
ca, conj.: and.
gandho: gandha-, N.m.: scent. Nom.Sg. = gandho.
paṭivātam: see above.
eti: see above.
List of Abbreviations
sabbā: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Acc.Pl.f. = sabbā.
disā: disā-, N.f: direction. Acc.Pl. = disā.
sappuriso: sappurisa-,
N.m.: a true person. It is a compound of:
sat-, Adj.: true, good, real. This is a compound form
of the word sant- (see above).
purisa-, N.m.: person.
Euphonic combination: sat + purisa = sappurisa.
Nom.Sg. = sappuriso.
pavāyati, V.: to pervade, to blow forth, to emit (scent). The verb root is vā- (to blow) with the prefix pa- (strengthening, "forth"). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pavāyati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse forms four syntactically
separated sentences. They are:
1) na pupphagandho paṭivātam eti (the scent of flowers
does not go against the wind). The subject of this sentence is the noun pupphagandho
(scent of flowers, nominative singular). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person,
singular, active, indicative, present tense), which is negated by the negative
particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb paṭivātam
(against the wind).
2) na candanaṃ tagaramallikā vā (nor [does] tagara
or jasmine). There are two subjects in this sentence, candanaṃ (sandal,
nominative singular) and tagaramallikā (tagara and jasmine, nominative
singular). They are connected by the conjunction vā (or). There is a
negative particle na (not) in this sentence, which negates the verb eti
(goes) from the previous sentence. In this sentence the verb is omitted.
3) sataṃ ca gandho paṭivātam eti (the scent of true ones goes
against the wind). The subject here is the noun gandho (smell, nominative
singular) with an attribute, the adjective sataṃ (of the true ones, genitive
plural). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative,
present tense) with an attribute, the adverb paṭivātam (against the wind).
The conjunction ca (and) connects this sentence to the two previous ones.
4) sabbā disā sappuriso pavāyati (the true person pervades
all directions). The subject is the noun sappuriso (true person, nominative
singular). The verb is pavāyati (pervades, 3rd person, singular, active,
indicative, present tense). The object is the noun disā (directions,
accusative plural) with the adjective sabbā (all, accusative plural)
as an attribute.
Venerable Ānanda was once sitting
in meditation and he was pondering the problem of scent. All the known scents
- perfumes, flowers, roots etc. go only with the wind. No scent can go against
the wind. Is there any scent at all that can go against the wind?
He asked the Buddha about it. The Buddha said that there exists
such thing. A person, who takes refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, observes
the moral precepts and is generous, is really worthy of praise. The "scent",
or the reputation, of such a person spreads far and wide, with the wind and
against it. Such a person is famous everywhere and people praise him.
Word pronunciation:
na
pupphagandho
puppha
gandho
paṭivātam
paṭi
vātam
eti
candanaṃ
tagaramallikā
tagara
mallikā
vā
sataṃ
ca
sabbā
disā
sappuriso
pavāyati