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

List of Abbreviations

# sace labhetha nipakaj sahayaj

# saddhijcaraj sadhuviharidhiraj

# abhibhuyya sabbani parissayani

# careyya tenattamano satima

# (DhP 328)

Sentence Translation:

If you find an intelligent companion,
a fellow-traveler of pure actions and wise,
you should overcome all problems
and travel with him, delighted and mindful.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sace labhetha nipakaj sahayaj
| | | |
part. V.act. Adj.m. N.m.
| 2.Pl.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|________| |_______|
| |_____________________________________________I.
|______________________________|
|________________________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

saddhij+caraj sadhu+vihari+dhiraj
| | | | |
Adv. N.m. Adv. Adj. Adj.m.
| Acc.Sg. |______| Acc.Sg.
|__________| |_________|
|__________________|
I._____________|
II.________________________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

abhibhuyya sabbani parissayani
| | |
V.ger. Adj.n. N.n.
| Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl.
| |________|
|________________|
|__________________________________________________________
_______________________________|

List of Abbreviations

careyya tena atta+mano satima
| | | | |
V.act. Pron.m. Adj. Adj.m. Adj.m.
3.Sg.opt. Ins.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|___________| |_____| |
| |_________|
|___________________|
_______________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

sace, part.: if.

labhetha, V.: obtains, gets. The verb root is labh-. 2.Pl.act.opt. = labhetha.

nipakaj: nipaka-, Adj.: intelligent, prudent, wise. Acc.Sg.m. = nipakaj.

sahayaj: sahaya-, N.m.: companion, friend. Acc.Sg. = sahayaj.

saddhijcaraj: saddhijcara-, N.m.: companion; fellow-traveler. It is a compound of:
saddhij, Adv.: together, with.
carant-, Adj.: wanderer, wandering. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root car- (to move, to wander about). Compound form = cara-.
Acc.Sg. = saddhijcaraj.

List of Abbreviations

sadhuviharidhiraj: sadhuviharidhira-, Adj.: who is wise and acts nobly. It is a compound of:
sadhu, Adv.: well, good.
viharin-, Adj.: acting, living. It is the word vihara-, N.m.: abode, stay, with the possessive suffix -in.
dhira-, Adj.: wise, clever. As. an N.m.: wise person.
Acc.Sg.m. = sadhuviharidhiraj.

abhibhuyya, V.ger.: having overcome. The verb root is bhu- (to be) with the prefix abhi- (over)

sabbani: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Acc.Pl.n. = sabbani.

parissayani: parissaya-, N.n.: danger, trouble, problem. Acc.Pl. = parissayani.

List of Abbreviations

careyya, V.: should walk. The verb root is car- (to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = careyya.

tena: tad-, Pron.: it. Ins.Sg.m. = tena (with him).

attamano: attamana-, Adj.: delighted, pleased. It is a compound of:
atta-, Adj.: uplifted, upraised. It is a p.p. of the verb root da- (to give) with the prefix a- (towards).
mano-, N.n.: mind.
Nom.Sg.m. = attamano.
Euphonic combination: tena + attamano = tenattamano.

satima: satimant-, Adj.: mindful, wakeful. The word sati-, N.f.: mindfulness, wakefulness, alertness, with the possessive suffix -mant. The form satimant- is used in poetry. Nom.Sg.m. = satima.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
1) sace labhetha nipakaj sahayaj saddhijcaraj sadhuviharidhiraj (if you find an intelligent companion, a fellow-traveler of pure actions and wise). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person plural pronoun. The verb is labhetha (should you get, 2nd person, plural, active, optative). It is modified by the particle sace (if). There are two objects, the noun sahayaj (companion, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective nipakaj (intelligent, accusative singular) and the compound saddhijcaraj (fellow-traveler, accusative singular) with its attribute, the compound sadhuviharidhiraj (of good deeds and wise, accusative singular).
2) abhibhuyya sabbani parissayani careyya tenattamano satima (you should overcome all problems and travel with him, delighted and mindful). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
a) abhibhuyya sabbani parissayani (you should overcome all problems). The verb is in gerund, abhibhuyya (having overcome). The object is the noun parissayani (problems, accusative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective sabbani (all, accusative plural).
b) careyya tenattamano satima (you should travel with him, delighted and mindful). There are two subjects, the adjectives attamano (delighted, nominative singular) and satima (mindful, nominative singular). The verb is careyya (one should travel, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the pronoun tena (with him, instrumental singular).

Commentary:

The monks in the city of Kosambi once quarreled about some trivial matter. This led to a terrible dispute. Even the Buddha was not able to appease the quarrelling monks. So the Buddha left them and went to the forest to stay alone.
After some time the monks cooled down and they realized their mistake. Therefore they went to the forest to find the Buddha and ask for his forgiveness. The Buddha told them this verse (and the following two, DhP 329 and DhP 330) to emphasize the value of a true friendship.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

sace
labhetha
nipakaj
sahayaj
saddhijcaraj
saddhij
caraj
sadhuviharidhiraj
sadhu
vihari
dhiraj
abhibhuyya
sabbani
parissayani
careyya
tena
attamano
atta
mano
satima