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

List of Abbreviations

# yaj kibci yitthaj va hutaj va loke

# sajvaccharaj yajetha pubbapekkho

# sabbam pi taj na catubhagam eti

# abhivadana ujjugatesu seyyo

# (DhP 108)

Sentence Translation:

Whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world
might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit,
all that is not worth one fourth.
Showing respect to those of upright conduct is better.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yaj kibci yitthaj va hutaj va loke
| | | | | | |
Rel.Pron. Pron. N.n. conj. N.n. conj. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. | Loc.Sg.
|__________| |_____| |_____| |
| |___________| |
| |______________|
|__________________________|
|_____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sajvaccharaj yajetha pubba+pekkho
| | | |
N.m. V.med. N.n. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. | Nom.Sg.
|______________| |_______|
_______| |
|_____________________|
|___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sabbam pi taj na catu+bhagam eti
| | | | | | |
Adj.n. part. Pron.n. neg. Num. N.m. V.act.in.
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|________| | | |______| |
|__________| |_______|___________|
| |____|
|____________________|
___________________|

List of Abbreviations

abhivadana ujju+gatesu seyyo
| | | |
N.f. Adj. Adj.m. Adj.n.
Nom.Sg. | Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg.
| |____| |
|_____________| |
|________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yaj: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Acc.Sg.n.: yaj.

kibci: kibci-, Pron.: whatever. Acc.Sg.n. = kibci.

yitthaj: yittha-, Adj.: sacrificed, given in oblation. It is a p.p. of the verb root yaj- (to sacrifice). As an N.n.: sacrificial gift, oblation. Acc.Sg. = yitthaj.

va, conj.: or. Usually written as va, here shortened for metrical reasons.

hutaj: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). As an N.n.: oblation, sacrificial gift. Acc.Sg. = hutaj.

va: see above.

loke: loka-, N.m.: world. Loc.Sg. = loke.

List of Abbreviations

sajvaccharaj: sajvacchara-, N.m.: year. Acc.Sg. = sajvaccharaj (for a year).

yajetha, V.: should sacrifice. The verb root is yaj-. 3.Sg.med.opt. = yajetha.

pubbapekkho: pubbapekkha-, Adj.: wishing for merit, desiring merit. It is a compound of:
pubba-, N.n.: merit, goodness, virtue, meritorious action.
pekkha-, Adj.: wishing, looking for. It is derived from the verb root ikkh- (to see)
with the prefix pa- (strengthening).
Nom.Sg.m. = pubbapekkho.

sabbam: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Nom.Sg.n. = sabbam.

pi, part.: also.

taj: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.n.: taj.

na, neg.: not.

List of Abbreviations

catubhagam: catubhaga-, N.m.: one quarter, the fourth part. It is a compound of:
catur-, Num.: four. The compound form is catu-.
bhaga-, N.m.: share, part.
Acc.Sg. = catubhagam.

eti: goes. The verb root is i- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres = eti.

abhivadana: abhivadana-, N.f.: salutation, showing respect. It is usually found as N.n. It is derived from the verb root vad- (to speak) with the prefix abhi- (all around). Nom.Sg. = abhivadana.

ujjugatesu: ujjugata-, Adj.: of an upright conduct. It is a compound of:
ujju-, Adj.: straight, upright. Also spelled as uju-.
gata-, Adj.: gone, fig.: conduct. It is a p.p. of the verb gam- (to go).
Loc.Pl.m. = ujjugatesu.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separated sentences. They are:
1) yaj kibci yitthaj va hutaj va loke sajvaccharaj yajetha pubbapekkho sabbam pi taj na catubhagam eti (whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit, all that is not worth one fourth). This can be further subdivided into two sentences:
a) yaj kibci yitthaj va hutaj va loke sajvaccharaj yajetha pubbapekkho (whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit). The subject is the compound pubbapekkho (one who is looking for merit, nominative singular). The verb is yajetha (might sacrifice, 3rd person, singular, medium, optative). It has an attribute, the noun sajvaccharaj (for a year, accusative singular). There is a double object, yitthaj (sacrifice, accusative singular) and hutaj (oblation, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions va (or). This object has an attribute, the phrase yaj kibci (whatever). It consists of the relative pronoun yaj (what, accusative singular) and the pronoun kibci (whatever, accusative singular).
b) sabbam pi taj na catubhagam eti (all that is not worth one fourth). The subject is the pronoun taj (that, nominative singular). It has an attribute, sabbam pi (even all). It consists of the adjective sabbam (all, nominative singular) and the particle pi (also, even). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound catubhagam (quarter, accusative singular).
2) abhivadana ujjugatesu seyyo (showing respect to those of upright conduct is better). The subject is the noun abhivadana (respect, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound ujjugatesu (amongst those of upright conduct, locative plural). The object is the adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".

Commentary:

Venerable Sariputta once asked his friend, if he was following any beneficial religious practices. His friend, a Brahmin, told him that he was giving many sacrificial offerings and as a result of this he hopes to reach a heavenly world in his future existence. Sariputta explained to him that in this way he would certainly not reach any heavenly world.
He then took his friend to the Buddha who taught him the Dharma and told him that giving sacrificial offerings every day does not count one fourth of showing respect to the Arahants.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yaj
kibci
yitthaj
va
hutaj
loke
sajvaccharaj
yajetha
pubbapekkho
pubba
pekkho
sabbam
pi
taj
na
catubhagam
catu
bhagam
eti
abhivadana
ujjugatesu
ujju
gatesu
seyyo