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

List of Abbreviations

# mase mase sahassena yo yajetha sataj samaj

# ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye

# sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassasataj hutaj

# (DhP 106)

Sentence Translation:

If one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds,
and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself,
then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

mase mase sahassena yo yajetha sataj samaj
| | | | | | |
N.m. N.m. Num.n. Rel.Pron. V.med. Num.n. Adj.n.
Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg. Ins.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|_________| | | | |_______|
|____________| | |___________|
|_____________|______________|
|_____|
|_______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

ekaj ca bhavita+attanaj muhuttam api pujaye
| | | | | | |
Num.m. conj. Adj. N.m. N.m. part. V.act.
Acc.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt.
| | |______| |______| |
|________|________| |________|
|_______________________|
________________________|
|__________________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassa+sataj hutaj
| | | | | | | | |
Pron.f. part. N.f. Adj.n. Rel.Pron.n. part. N.n. Num.n. Adj.n.
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_________|_____| | |______| |______| |
|___| | | |_________|
|_______________| |________________|
|___________________________|
___________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

mase: masa-, N.m.: month. Loc.Sg. = mase.

mase: see above.
The phrase mase mase = every month.

sahassena: sahassa-, N.n.: thousand. Ins.Sg. = sahassena.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

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

sataj: sata-, Num.n.: hundred. Acc.Sg. = sataj.

samaj: sama-, Adj.: same, even. Acc.Sg. = samaj.

ekaj: eka-, Num.: one. Acc.Sg.m. = ekaj.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

bhavit'attanaj: bhavit'attan-, Adj.: having developed oneself. It is a compound of:
bhavita-, Adj.: developed. It is a p.p. of the verb bhaveti (to develop, to meditate).
attan-, N.m.: self, oneself.
Euphonic combination: bhavita- + attan- = bhavit'attan-.
Acc.Sg.m. = bhavit'attanaj.

muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.

api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).

pujaye, V.: should worship, should pay respects to. The verb root is puj- (to worship).
3.Sg.act.opt. = pujaye.

sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.f. = sa.

yeva, part.: just, only. It is more often spelled as eva.

List of Abbreviations

pujana: pujana-, N.f.: worship, devotion. It is derived from the verb root puj- (to worship).
Nom.Sg. = pujana.

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

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

ce, part.: if.

vassasataj: vassasata-, N.n.: hundred years, century. It is a compound of:
vassa-, N.n.: year.
sata-, Num.n.: hundred.
Nom.Sg. = vassasataj.

hutaj: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). Nom.Sg.n. = hutaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two sentences. They are:
1) mase mase sahassena yo yajetha sataj samaj ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye (if one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds, and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). This can be further subdivided into two segments:
a) mase mase sahassena yo yajetha sataj samaj (if one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is yajetha (should sacrifice, 3rd person, singular, medium, optative). It has two main attributes: I) sahassena (by thousand, instrumental singular) with its double attribute mase mase (every month, locative singular) and II) sataj (hundred, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective samaj (even, accusative singular).
b) ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye (and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). The subject is still the word yo from the previous sentence. The object is the compound bhavit'attanaj (one who has developd himself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the numeral ekaj (one, accusative singular). The verb is pujaye (should pay respects, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the word muhuttam (for a moment, accusative singular) with its attribute, the particle api (also, just). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes, but it also connects this sentence to the previous one.
2) sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassasataj hutaj (then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
a) sa yeva pujana seyyo (such a devotion is better). The subject is double, the pronoun sa (she, nominative singular) and pujana (devotion, nominative singular). They are stressed by the particle yeva (just). The adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular) is an object of this sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
b) yaj ce vassasataj hutaj (than hundred years of sacrifice). The subject is the compound vassasataj (century, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle hutaj (sacrificed, nominative singular). The relative pronoun yaj (that, what; nominative singular) and the particle ce (if) form two parts of the phrase yaj ce (than). The verb is again omitted, as above implying the verb "to be".

Commentary:

Venerable Sariputta once asked his uncle if he was doing any good deeds. His uncle (who was a Brahmin) replied that every month he was making offerings to ascetics, hoping to be reborn in the heavenly world in the future existence. Sariputta assured him that the ascetics did not really know the way to the heavenly world. He then took him to the Buddha who explained the Dharma to him and added that to pay respects to an Arahant is far better than to make offerings to somebody who is not really worth it.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mase
sahassena
yo
yajetha
sataj
samaj
ekaj
ca
bhavit'attanaj
bhavita
attanaj
muhuttam
api
pujaye
sa
yeva
pujana
seyyo
yaj
ce
vassasataj
vassa
hutaj