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

List of Abbreviations

# vassika viya pupphani maddavani pamubcati

# evaj ragaj ca dosaj ca vippamubcetha bhikkhavo

# (DhP 377)

Sentence Translation:

Just like the jasmine sheds its withered flowers,
so you should shed passion and hatred, monks.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

vassika viya pupphani maddavani pamubcati
| | | | |
N.f. part. N.n. Adj.n. V.act.in.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. 3.Sg.pres.
| | |_________| |
| | |______________|
|_________|________________|
|_____|
|___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

evaj ragaj ca dosaj ca vippamubcetha bhikkhavo
| | | | | | |
Adv. N.m. conj. N.m. conj. V.act. N.m.
| Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. | 2.Pl.opt. Voc.Sg.
| |_____| |_____| | |
| |___________| | |
| |______________| |
| |_________________|
|________________________________|
_______________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

vassika: vassika-, N.f.: jasmine. Nom.Sg. = vassika.

viya, part.: as, like.

pupphani: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Pl. = pupphani.

maddavani: maddava-, Adj.: withered, soft. Acc.Pl.n. = maddavani.

pamubcati, V.: releases, sheds. The verb root is muc-, to free, with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pamubcati.

evaj, Adv.: thus, in this way.

List of Abbreviations

ragaj: raga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color). Acc.Sg. = ragaj.

ca, conj.: and.

dosaj: dosa-, N.m.: ill-will, hatred, anger. Acc.Sg. = dosaj.

ca, conj.: and.

vippamubcetha, V.: release, shed. The verb root is muc-, to free, with the prefixes pa- (strengthening) and vi- (away, from). 2.Pl.act.opt. = vippamubcetha.

bhikkhavo: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Voc.Pl. = bhikkhavo.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
1) vassika viya pupphani maddavani pamubcati (just like the jasmine sheds its withered flowers). The subject is the noun vassika (jasmine, nominative singular). The verb is pamubcati (sheds, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun pupphani (flowers, accusative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective maddavani (withered, accusative plural). The particle viya (as, like) connects this sentence to the following one.
2) evaj ragaj ca dosaj ca vippamubcetha bhikkhavo (so you should shed passion and hatred, monks). The subject is the noun bhikkhavo (monks, vocative plural). The verb is vippamubcetha (you should shed, 2nd person, plural, active, optative). There are two objects, ragaj (passion, accusative singular) and dosaj (hatred, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). The adverb evaj (thus, so) connects this sentence to the previous one.

Commentary:

A group of monks received a subject of meditation from the Buddha and they started to practice diligently. Once they observed a jasmine flowers, which blossomed beautifully in the morning, only to wither away and be shed in the evening. They realized that they must do the same with all the mental defilements of their minds. The Buddha then spoke this verse to them, further reinforcing the idea. The monks reflected on this and soon all attained the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

vassika
viya
pupphani
maddavani
pamubcati
evaj
ragaj
ca
dosaj
vippamubcetha
bhikkhavo