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

List of Abbreviations

# supatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho

# ujupatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho

# bayapatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho

# samicipatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho

# yadidaj cattari purisayugani attha purisapuggala

# esa bhagavato savakasavgho

# ahuneyyo pahuneyyo dakkhineyyo abjalikaraniyo

# anuttaraj pubbakkhettaj lokassa 'ti

Translation:

The community of disciples of the Blessed One has well followed [the teaching].
The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the straight [path].
The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the methodical [path].
The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the correct [conduct in life].
Namely [there are] the four pairs of people, eight human characters.
This is the community of disciples of the Blessed One.
It is worthy of offerings, worthy of hospitality, worthy of gifts, worthy of salutation.
It is the unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

su+patipanno bhagavato savaka+savgho
| | | | |
pref. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. N.m.
| Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|______| | |______|
| |___________|
|_________________|
|_________________________________________________

uju+patipanno bhagavato savaka+savgho List of Abbreviations
| | | | |
Adj. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. N.m.
| Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|_______| | |______|
| |___________|
|_________________|
____________|________________________________________________

baya+patipanno bhagavato savaka+savgho List of Abbreviations
| | | | |
N.m. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. N.m.
| Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|________| | |______|
| |___________|
|___________________|
_____________|_______________________________________________

samici+patipanno bhagavato savaka+savgho List of Abbreviations
| | | | |
Adj. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. N.m.
| Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|_________| | |______|
| |___________|
|___________________|
______________|______________________________________________

yadidaj cattari purisa+yugani attha purisa+puggala List of Abbreviations
| | | | | | |
Adv. Num.n. N.m. N.n. Num.n. N.m. N.m.
| Nom. | Nom.Pl. Nom. | Nom.Pl.
| | |_____| | |_______|
| |________| |__________|
| |_____________________|
|_______________________|
___________|_________________________________________________

esa bhagavato savaka+savgho List of Abbreviations
| | | |
Pron. N.m. N.m. N.m.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
| | |______|
| |__________|
|_________________|
___________|_________________________________________________

ahuneyyo pahuneyyo dakkhineyyo abjali+karaniyo List of Abbreviations
| | | | |
Adj.m. Adj.m. Adj.m. N.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
| | | |______|
|____________|__________|__________|
_________________|___________________________________________

an+uttaraj pubba+kkhettaj lokassa ti List of Abbreviations
| | | | | |
neg. Adj.n. N.n. N.n. N.m. part.
| Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. |
|______| |______| | |
|____________| | |
|__________________| |
__________________|_______________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

supatipanno: supatipanna-, Adj.: have well followed. The word patipanna (followed) is a p.p. of the verb pad- (to go) with the prefix pati- (towards). The prefix su- means "well".
Nom.Sg.m. of the compound = supatipanno.

bhagavato: bhagavant-, N.m.: Blessed One (epithet of the Buddha, possessive form of the word bhaga-, N.m.: good fortune, happiness, prosperity. Bhaga- is derived from the verb root bhaj-, to share. Thus bhagavant means literally "having good fortune").
Gen.Sg. = bhagavato: Of the Blessed One.

savakasavgho: savakasavgha-, N.m.: community of the disciples. A compound of:
savaka-, N.m.: disciple. Derived form the verb su- (to listen, to hear).
savgha-, N.m.: community. The community of the Buddha's followers. It is of two
kinds: the savgha of lay followers and the savgha of monks and nuns.
Nom.Sg. of the compound = savakasavgho.

List of Abbreviations

ujupatipanno: ujupatipanna-, Adj.: have followed the straight [path]. A compound of:
uju-, Adj.: straight.
patipanna-, Adj.: see above.
Nom.Sg.m. of the compound = ujupatipanno.

bayapatipanno: bayapatipanna-, Adj.: have followed the method. A compound of:
ba ya-, N.m.: method, way, logic.
patipanna-, Adj.: see above.
Nom.Sg.m. of the compound = bayapatipanno.

samicipatipanno: samicipatipanna-, Adj.: correct in life.
samici-, Adj.: proper, right.
patipanna-, Adj.: see above.
Nom.Sg.m. = samicipatipanno.

List of Abbreviations

yadidaj, Adv.: that is, which is, as follows. A compound of:
yad-, Rel.Pron.n.: that, which.
idaj, Pron.n.: that.

cattari: catur-, Num.: four. Nom.n.: cattari.

purisayugani: purisayuga-, N.n.: pair of people. A compound of:
purisa-, N.m.: man, person.
yuga-, N.n.: pair, couple.
Nom.Pl. = purisayugani.

attha: attha-, Num.: eight. Nom.n.: attha.

List of Abbreviations

purisapuggala: purisapuggala-, N.m.: human character. A compound of:
purisa-, N.m.: person, man.
puggala-, N.m.: person, character.
Nom.Pl. = purisapuggala.

esa: etad-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.m. = eso (or sometimes, as here, esa).

bhagavato: see above.

savakasavgho: savakasavgha-, N.m.: see above.

ahuneyyo: ahuneyya-, Adj.: worthy of offerings. A ger. of the verb hu- (to offer, to sacrifice) with the prefix a- (towards). Nom.Sg.m. = ahuneyyo.

List of Abbreviations

pahuneyyo: pahuneyya-, Adj.: worthy of hospitality. A ger. of the verb hu- (to ofer, to sacrifice) with the prefixes pa- (strengthening) and a- (towards). The related noun pahuna-, N.m.: guest.
Nom.Sg.m. = pahunneyyo.

dakkhineyyo: dakkhineyya-, Adj.: worthy of gifts. A ger. of a verb dakkhinati (to give gifts). This verb is derived from the word dakkhina-, N.f.: gift, fee, donation.
Nom.Sg.m. = dakkhineyyo.

abjalikaraniyo: abjalikaraniya-, Adj.: worthy of salutation. A compound of:
abjali-, N.m.: reverence, salutation (denoting the palms of hands placed side
by side and raised to the head).
karaniya-, Adj.: should be done. A ger. of the verb kar- (to do).
Nom.Sg.m. = abjalikaraniyo.

List of Abbreviations

anuttaraj: anuttara-, Adj.: highest. Literally: "to which there is no higher". It is composed of the word uttara- (uttara-, Adj.: higher) which is preceded by the negative prefix an-.
Nom.Sg.n. = anuttaraj.

pubbakkhettaj: pubbakhetta-, N.n.: the field for [obtaining] merit. It is a compound of:
pubba-, N.n.: merit, meritorious action.
khetta-, N.n.: field, site, place.
Nom.Sg. = pubbakhettaj.

lokassa: loka-, N.m.: world. Gen.Sg. = lokassa.

ti, part.: (sometimes written as iti) usually a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech (in English that is expressed by quotation marks). The form that we see in the text (lokassa 'ti) is thanks to the euphonic combination (lokassa + iti or ti = lokassa 'ti).
List of Abbreviations

From syntactical point of view, this gatha actually consists of several isolated sentences. First four of them are:

1) supatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho (The community of disciples of the Blessed One has well followed [the teaching]),
2) ujupatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho (The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the straight [path]),
3) bayapatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho (The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the methodical [path]),
4) samicipatipanno bhagavato savakasavgho (The community of disciples of the Blessed One has followed the correct [conduct in life]),

As their structure is identical, we will deal with them at the same time. The subject is savakasavgho (The community of disciples). It is in nominative singular. The verb is omitted (the verb to be is implied). The subject has two attributes: bhagavato (of the Blessed One, genitive singular) is the main attribute and four different secondary attributes are attached to this phrase. They are supatipanno, supatipanno, bayapatipanno and samicipatipanno respectively. They are in nominative singular.
Next sentence is yadidaj cattari purisayugani attha purisapuggala. The sentence is introduced by the compound adverb yadidaj (namely). There are two subjects: purisayugani (four pairs of people, nominative plural) and purisapuggala (eight human characters, nominative plural). They both have a numeral cattari (four) and attha (eight) as attributes respectively.
Sixth sentence is esa bhagavato savakasavgho. The subject here is esa (this, nominative singular). It has as a predicate the word savakasavgho (The community of disciples, nominative singular), which has the word bhagavato (of the Blessed One, genitive singular) as an attribute.
Next is a collection of four attributes - ahuneyyo (worthy of offerings), pahuneyyo (worthy of hospitality), dakkhineyyo (worthy of gifts) and abjalikaraniyo (worthy of salutation) - without a subject or a verb. They can be seen as attributes to the word savakasavgho (The community of disciples) from the previous sentence. They agree with it (they are in nominative singular).
Last sentence is anuttaraj pubbakkhettaj lokassa. Here the subject is again the word savakasavgho (The community of disciples) from the sixth sentence. The verb to be is omitted. The predicate is pubbakkhettaj (field of merit), in nominative singular. It has an attribute anuttaraj (highest), which agrees with it in case, gender and number. The word lokassa (of the world) then constitutes an attribute to this predicate. It is in genitive singular.
The particle ti marks the end of the list of attributes.

Commentary:
Here we find enumerated the qualities of the Sangha, the community of Buddha's disciples. This is the final one of the "Three Gems", or "Three refuges" of the Buddhism.
The community has well followed the path to the deliverance that was taught by the Buddha (supatipanno).
The community is following the straight path (ujupatipanno). This path leads directly to the goal, it is not a labyrinth, it is clearly pointed out. There are no dead ends or bends.
The community is on a methodical (or logical) path (bayapatipanno). Each step on this path is well explained, there is a method and internal logic in every and each of the sections on this way.
The community is correct in conduct (samicipatipanno). The rules for the followers have been laid down in the Vinaya, the Code of Conduct, and every Buddha's follower is expected to live up to high standard of this treatise.
In the Sangha, there are " four pairs of people" (cattari purisayugani) and "eight individual human characters" (attha purisapuggala). By four pairs of people the text means the followers who have reached one of the four stages on the way to the awakenment. First is sotapatti (entering the stream), the first glimpse of Nirvana and breaking of some fetters binding us to the round of rebirth. Then comes sakadagamita (the state of a "once-returner"), next stage on the path - those who have reached this stage will be born only once in this world. Next is anagamita (the state of a "non-returner"), after reaching this stage the practitioner will not be born again in this world, but will (if not reaching the goal in this life) be born in some higher world, finishing his practice there and reaching the goal. Last is arahatta (the state of an arahant), the final goal of Buddhism, purification of mind and breaking of the round of rebirth. So these are the four stages on the path and the practitioners are divided into those, who are on the path to one of them or those who have reached the fruit of them. So there are four pairs of people (on the path to sotapatti + reaching the fruit of it etc.). Or, in other words, these are eight individual human characters.
Such is the Community of Buddha's disciples.
It is worthy of offerings (ahuneyyo), because of its qualities. The offerings (mainly food and medicine) given to the Sangha are meritorious deeds.
It is also worthy of hospitality (pahuneyyo). Giving shelter and caring in sickness for monks and nuns is a good practice of generosity.
It is worthy of gifts (dakkhineyyo). Again, giving any gifts (allowed in Vinaya) - food, drinks, shelter, clothes, medicine etc. - does not only bring merit to the giver, but also serves as a practice of generosity.
It is worthy of salutation (abjalikaraniyo). Because of all these qualities, the Sangha is a good object of veneration, a good example to follow. To pay homage to the Sangha is also paying homage to the Buddha and his teaching, the Dhamma.
It is the unsurpassed field of merit for the world (anuttaraj pubbakkhettaj lokassa). The merit obtained by caring for needs of the community of Buddha's disciples is the highest and unsurpassed merit in the world. If anyone wants to "reap" rewards for his actions, the Sangha is always the best "field" to come to.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

supatipanno
bhagavato
savakasavgho
ujupatipanno
bayapatipanno
samicipatipanno
yadidaj
cattari
purisayugani
attha
purisapuggala
esa
ahuneyyo
pahuneyyo
dakkhineyyo
abjalikaraniyo
anuttaraj
pubbakkhettaj
lokassa
ti