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

List of Abbreviations

# yo ve uppatitaj kodhaj rathaj bhantaj va varaye

# tam ahaj sarathij brumi rasmiggaho itaro jano

# (DhP 222)

Sentence Translation:

Who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot,
him I call a charioteer. Other people just hold the reins.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo ve uppatitaj kodhaj rathaj bhantaj va varaye
| | | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. part. Adj.m. N.m. N.m. Adj.m. part. V.act.caus.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt.
|____________| |_______| |_______| | |
| | |_________| |
| |___________________| |
| |____________________|
|___________________________________|
|______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

tam ahaj sarathij brumi rasmi+ggaho itaro jano
| | | | | | | |
Pron.m. Pron. N.m. V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m. Adj.m. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| | |_______| |_____| |________|
|__________|___________| |______________|
|______|
_______|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

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

ve, part.: indeed.

uppatitaj: uppatita-, Adj.: arisen. It is a p.p. of the verb root pat- (to fall, to fly) with the prefix ud- (up). Acc.Sg.m. = uppatitaj.

kodhaj: kodha-, N.m.: anger. Acc.Sg. = kodhaj.

rathaj: ratha-, N.m.: chariot. Acc.Sg. = rathaj.

bhantaj: bhanta-, Adj.: staggering, swaying, uncontrollable. It is a p.p. of the verb root bham- (to stagger, to whirl about). Acc.Sg.m. = bhantaj.

va, part.: as, like.

varaye, V.: would prevent, would restrain. The verb root is var-. 3.Sg.act.caus.opt. = varaye.

List of Abbreviations

tam: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.m. = tam.

ahaj, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaj.

sarathij: sarathi-, N.m.: charioteer (probably from sa+ratha-; ratha-, N.m.: chariot with the prefix sa-, with). Acc.Sg. = sarathij.

brumi, V.: say, proclaim. The verb root is bru-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brumi.

rasmiggaho: rasmiggaha-, Adj.: holding the reins. It is a compound of:
rasmi-, N.m.: a rein.
gaha-, Adj.: holding, grasping. It is derived from the verb root gah- (to grasp).
Euphonic combination: rasmi- + gaha- = rasmiggaha-.
Nom.Sg.m. = rasmiggaho.

itaro: itara-, Adj.: other, different. Nom.Sg. = itaro.

jano: jana-, N.m.: person, man. Nom.Sg. = jano. Here collectively: people, the crowd.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) yo ve uppatitaj kodhaj rathaj bhantaj va varaye tam ahaj sarathij brumi (who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot, him I call a charioteer). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
a) yo ve uppatitaj kodhaj rathaj bhantaj va varaye (who would restrain rising anger, like a swaying chariot). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is varaye (would restrain, 3rd person, singular, active, causative, optative). The object is the noun kodhaj (anger, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle uppatitaj (arisen, accusative singular). There is a clause, dependent on the object: rathaj bhantaj va. Here, the object is the noun rathaj (chariot, accusative singular) and the adjective bhantaj (swaying, accusative singular) is its attribute. The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the object of the main sentence. The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
b) tam ahaj sarathij brumi (him I call a charioteer). The subject is the pronoun ahaj (I, nominative singular). The verb is brumi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). There are two objects, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the noun sarathij (charioteer, accusative singular).
2) rasmiggaho itaro jano (other people just hold the reins). The subject is the noun jano (people, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective itaro (other, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound rasmiggaho (holding the reins, nominative singular).

Commentary:

Once a certain monk wanted to build a hut for himself. He chose a tree and was about to cut it down. But a spirit lived in that tree with her son. The spirit asked the monk not to cut down their tree, but the monk did not listen. So the spirit put her son on the tree, hoping this would prevent the monk from cutting the tree down.
But the monk's ax was already swinging down and he was unable to stop it. The ax fell and cut of the baby's arm. The spirit became very angry and was about to kill the monk. But then she reflected and decided not to harm the monk, because she would acquire a lot of demerit. So instead, she went to see the Buddha and told him all what happened.
The Buddha told her this verse, praising her for her self-control. He then taught her the Dharma. After reflecting on what was taught, the spirit realized the Dharma. She was offered a new tree to live in, in vicinity of the monastery.
After this incident, the Buddha made a new rule for the monks, forbidding them to hurt plant life.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
ve
uppatitaj
kodhaj
rathaj
bhantaj
va
varaye
tam
ahaj
sarathij
brumi
rasmiggaho
rasmi
gaho
itaro
jano