Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation

List of Abbreviations

# mattasukhapariccaga passe ce vipulaj sukhaj

# caje mattasukhaj dhiro sampassaj vipulaj sukhaj

# (DhP 290)

Sentence Translation:

Seeing that abandoning the small happiness one could obtain large happiness,
a wise one, considering the large happiness should abandon the small happiness.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

matta+sukha+pariccaga passe ce vipulaj sukhaj
| | | | | | |
N.f. N.n. N.m. V.act. part. Adj.n. N.n.
|________| Abl.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|___________| |_____| |______|
|_______________|____________|
|_______|
|______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

caje matta+sukhaj dhiro sampassaj vipulaj sukhaj
| | | | | | |
V.act. N.f. N.n. Adj.m. Adj.m. Adj.n. N.n.
3.Sg.opt. | Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
| |_______| | | |_______|
|___________| | |___________|
| |_____________|
|________________________|
________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

mattasukhapariccaga: mattasukhapariccaga-, N.m.: abandoning of small happiness. It is a compound of:
matta-, N.f.: measure, quantity (here as small quantity).
sukha-, N.n.: happiness.
pariccaga-, N.m.: abandoning, giving up, renunciation. It is derived from the verb root caj- (to give up) with the prefix pari- (all around).
Abl.Sg. = mattasukhapariccaga.

passe, V.: should see. The verb root is dis- (to see). 3.Sg.act.opt = passe.

ce, part.: if.

vipulaj: vipula-, Adj.: large, great, abundant. Acc.Sg.n. = vipulaj.

sukhaj: sukha-, N.n.: happiness, ease, well-being. Acc.Sg. = sukhaj.

List of Abbreviations

caje, V.: abandon, give up. The verb root is caj-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = caje.

mattasukhaj: mattasukha-, N.n.: small happiness. It is a compound of:
matta-, N.f.; see above.
sukha-, N.n.: see above.
Acc.Sg. = mattasukhaj.

dhiro: dhira-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Sg.m. = dhiro.

sampassaj: sampassant-, Adj.: seeing, considering, looking to. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root pas- (to see) with the prefix sam- (completely). Nom.Sg.m. = sampassaj.

vipulaj: see above.

sukhaj: see above.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
1) mattasukhapariccaga passe ce vipulaj sukhaj (seeing that abandoning the small happiness one could obtain large happiness). The subject is omitted; the subject of the following sentence is implied. The verb is passe (one would see, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is modified by the particle ce (if). The verb has the compound mattasukhapariccaga (from abandoning the small happiness, ablative singular) as an attribute.The object is the noun sukhaj (happiness, accusative singular). It has one attribute, the adjective vipulaj (large, accusative singular).
2) caje mattasukhaj dhiro sampassaj vipulaj sukhaj (a wise one, considering the large happiness should abandon the small happiness). This can be further analysed into two segments:
a) caje mattasukhaj dhiro (a wise one should abandon the small happiness). The subject is the adjective dhiro (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is caje (should abandon, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the compound mattasukhaj (small happiness, accusative singular).
b) sampassaj vipulaj sukhaj (considering the large happiness). The subject is the adjective dhiro from the previous sentence. The verb is in active present participle: sampassaj (considering, nominative singular). The object is the noun sukhaj (happiness, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective vipulaj (large, accusative singular).

Commentary:

Once there was a serious drought in Vesali. It was followed by a famine and an epidemic of diseases. People of Vesali tried many ways to ease this situation but nothing seemed to work. Finally, they sent messengers to the Buddha, asking him to go to Vesali. The Buddha accepted.
As soon as he with a large group of monks reached Vesali there was a heavy rainfall, which cleaned the city. The Buddha recited a text called Ratana Sutta and instructed the monks to go around the city and recite the same text for seven days. After seven days, everything in Vesali returned to normal. People of the city were very grateful to the Buddha and since that day, the Buddha had a large group of followers in Vesali. The Ratana Sutta is used for protection even today.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mattasukhapariccaga
matta
sukha
pariccaga
passe
ce
vipulaj
sukhaj
caje
mattasukhaj
dhiro
sampassaj