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

List of Abbreviations

# pamadaj appamadena yada nudati pandito

# pabbapasadam aruyha asoko sokinij pajaj

# pabbatattho va bhumatthe dhiro bale avekkhati

# (DhP 28)

Translation:

When the wise one expels negligence by conscientiousness,
having climbed the stronghold of wisdom, without sorrow,
such a clever one observes the sorrowing crowd
as somebody standing on a mountain observes the foolish people on the ground.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

pamadaj a+ppamadena yada nudati pandito
| | | | | |
N.m. neg. N.m. Rel.Adv. V.act.in. N.m.
Acc.Sg. | Ins.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
| |______| | |_________|
|____________| | |
|_________________|____________|
|_________|
|______________________________________________I.

List of Abbreviations

pabba+pasadam aruyha a+soko sokinij pajaj
| | | | | | |
N.f. N.m. V.ger. neg. Adj.m. Adj.f. Adj.f.
| Acc.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|_________| | |____| |_______|
|___________| | |
I._________| | |______________________II.
|______________________________________III.

List of Abbreviations

pabbata+ttho va bhuma+tthe dhiro bale avekkhati
| | | | | | | |
N.m. Adj.m. part. N.m. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. V.act.in.
| Nom.Sg. | | Acc.Pl. Nom.Sg Acc.Pl. 3.Sg.pres.
|_______| | |____| | | |
III.__|_________|_______|_________| | |
| | | | |
II.____________|_______|___|_____________| |
|__________| |
|_____________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

pamadaj: pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Acc.Sg. = pamadaj.

appamadena: appamada-, N.m.: conscientiousness, non-negligence. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamada = appamada). Ins.Sg. = appamadena.

yada, Rel.Adv.: when.

nudati, V.: to expel, to drive away, to reject. The verb root nud-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = nudati.

pandito: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = pandito.

List of Abbreviations

pabbapasadam, pabbapasada-, N. : the stronghold of wisdom. A compound of:
pabba-, N.f.: wisdom.
pasada-, N.m.: stronghold, palace, building on a high foundation.
Acc.Sg. = pabbapasadam.

aruyha, V.ger.: having climbed. The verb ruh- (to grow, to spread) with the prefix a- (towards). To climb, to ascend, to go up to.

asoko: asoka-, Adj.: free from sorrow. The word soka-, N.m.: grief, sorrow, negated by the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m.: asoko.

sokinij: sokini-, Adj.f.: sorrowful. The word soka-, N.m.: grief, sorrow, with the possessive suffix -in. Feminine form -ini. Acc.Sg. = sokinij.

List of Abbreviations

pajaj: paja-, N.f.: beings, people, mankind. Acc.Sg. = pajaj.

pabbatattho: pabbatattha-, Adj.: standing on the mountain. Composed of:
pabbata-, N.m: mountain, hill.
-ttha-, Adj. suffix: standing. From the verb tha- (to stand).
Nom.Sg.m. = pabbatattho.

va, part.: as, like.

List of Abbreviations

bhumatthe: bhumattha-, Adj.: standing on the ground. Composed of:
bhuma-, N.m.: ground, earth, soil.
-ttha-, Adj. suffix: standing. From the verb tha- (to stand).
Acc.Pl.m. = bhumatthe.

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

bale: bala-, N.m.: fool. Acc.Pl. = bale.

avekkhati, V.: to look at. The verb ikkh- (to see) with the prefix ava- (down, over). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = avekkhati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse is composed of two sentences. The first one is: pamadaj appamadena yada nudati pandito pabbapasadam aruyha asoko (When the wise one expels negligence by conscientiousness, having climbed the stronghold of wisdom, without sorrow). The subject is the word pandito (wise one, nominative singular), with a attribute asoko (sorrowless, nominative singular). The verb is nudati (expels, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is pamadaj (negligence, accusative singular) with its attribute appamadena (by conscientiousness, instrumental singular). There is a subordinated clause pabbapasadam aruyha (having climbed the stronghold of wisdom). Here the verb is aruyha (having climbed, gerund) and the object pabbapasadam (the stronghold of wisdom, accusative singular). The whole sentence is introduced by the relative adverb yada (when).
The second sentence is sokinij pajaj pabbatattho va bhumatthe dhiro bale avekkhati (such a clever one observes the sorrowing crowd as somebody standing on a mountain observes the foolish people on the ground). We would expect the adverb tada (then) as a counterbalance of the relative adverb yada (when) in the first sentence, but it is not really necessary. We can further analyze this sentence into two segments: dhiro sokinij pajaj avekkhati (the clever one observes sorrowing crowd). Here the subject is dhiro (clever one, nominative singular) and the verb avekkhati (observes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is pajaj (crowd, accusative singular) with an attribute sokinij (sorrowing, accusative singular). The second segment is a simile: pabbatattho va bhumatthe bale (as somebody standing on a mountain [observes] fools standing on the ground). Here, the subject is pabbatattho (standing on a mountain, nominative singular). The verb is missing, the word avekkhati from the first segment is implied. The object is bale (fools, accusative plural) with its attribute bhumatthe (standing on the ground, accusative plural).

Commentary:

The story says, that one of the chief disciples of the Buddha, the Elder Mahakassapa was once practicing meditation, trying to find out which of the beings in the world were conscientious and which were negligent. He also tried to find who was about to be born and who was about to die.
The Buddha learned about this and told him not to waste his time on something like that - because such things do not lead to the Awakenment. In addition to that, such a task is possible only for a Buddha, because of the innumerable beings in the world. The Buddha the spoke this verse.
The negligence is of course best dispelled with the conscientiousness. When we are able to do that, we will "climb the stronghold of wisdom", we will reach the Nirvana. Then we can look at the others, who are still negligent, as somebody on the top of a mountain can watch the people on the plain below him.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pamadam
appamadena
yada
nudati
pandito
pabbapasadam
pabba
pasadam
aruyha
asoko
sokinij
pajaj
pabbatattho
va
bhumatthe
dhiro
bale
avekkhati