Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# pavivekarasaj pitva rasaj upasamassa ca

# niddaro hoti nippapo dhammapitirasaj pivaj

# (DhP 205)

Sentence Translation:

Having drunk the nectar of solitude and the nectar of tranquility,
one is free of fear and free of evil, drinking the nectar of the joy of Dharma.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

paviveka+rasaj pitva rasaj upasamassa ca
| | | | | |
N.m. N.m. V.ger. N.m. N.m. conj.
| Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg. |
|_________| | |_______| |
|___________|__________| |
| |________________|
|_____________|
|____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

niddaro hoti nippapo dhamma+piti+rasaj pivaj
| | | | | | |
Adj.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. N.m. N.f. N.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.act. Nom.Sg. |_____| Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|__________|_______| |_______| |
|_____| |__________|
|______________________________|
_______________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

pavivekarasaj: pavivekarasa-, N.m.: the flavor of solitude. It is a compound of:
paviveka-, N.m.: solitude, seclusion.
rasa-, N.m.: nectar, juice, flavor, taste.
Acc.Sg. = pavivekarasaj.

pitva, V.ger.: having drunk. The verb root is pa- (to drink). Ger. = pitva.

rasaj: rasa-, N.m.: nectar, juice, flavor, taste. Acc.Sg. = rasaj.

upasamassa: upasama-, N.m.: calm, quiet, tranquility. It is derived from the verb root sam- (to be appeased) with the prefix upa- (towards, up). Gen.Sg. = upasamassa.

ca, conj.: and.

List of Abbreviations

niddaro: niddara-, Adj.: free from fear, free from pain. It is the word dara-, N.m.: fear, pain, with the prefix nir- (without). Nom.Sg.m. = niddaro.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhu- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

nippapo: nippapa-, Adj.: free from evil. It is the word papa-, N.n.: evil, wrongdoing, with the prefix nir- (without). Nom.Sg.m. = nippapo.

dhammapitirasaj: dhammapitirasa-, N.m.: flavor of the joy of Dharma. It is a compound of:
dhammapiti-, N.f.: the joy of Dharma. This can be further analysed as:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
piti-, N.f.: joy, delight.
rasa-, N.m.: nectar, juice, flavor, taste.
Acc.Sg. = dhammapitirasaj.

pivaj: pivant-, Adj.: drinking. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root pa- (to drink). Nom.Sg.m. = pivaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
1) pavivekarasaj pitva rasaj upasamassa ca (having drunk the nectar of solitude and the nectar of tranquility). The subject is omitted; the verb from the second sentence (hoti) implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is in gerund, pitva (having drunk, gerund). There are two objects, the compound pavivekarasaj (the nectar of solitude, accusative singular) and the noun rasaj (nectar, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun upasamassa (of tranquility, genitive singular). Both objects are connected by the conjunction ca (and).
2) niddaro hoti nippapo dhammapitirasaj pivaj (one is free of fear and free of evil, drinking the nectar of the joy of Dharma). The subject is the active present participle pivaj (drinking, nominative singular) with its attribute, the compound dhammapitirasaj (the nectar of the joy of Dharma, accusative singular). The verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). There are two objects, the adjectives niddaro (free of fear, nominative singular) and nippapo (free of evil, nominative singular).

Commentary:

The Buddha announced that in four months he would attain his final Parinirvana (death of a Buddha or any fully Awakened person). Many monks who had not yet attained the Awakenment were sad and depressed. They all came to the presence of the Buddha and paid him their respects.
But Venerable Tissa decided that he would pay the highest honor to the Buddha by attaining the Awakenment while he was still alive. Therefore he went to the secluded place in the forest and practiced meditation diligently.
Other monks did not understand his intentions and reported to the Buddha that Tissa had no respect for him and kept to himself instead of coming to pay his respects to the teacher.
The Buddha told them that Tissa was striving to attain Awakenment before the teacher died and then explained that this was the best way to honor the Buddha. The best salutation to the Buddha is practicing the Dharma diligently. At the end, the Buddha told the monks this verse.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pavivekarasaj
paviveka
rasaj
pitva
upasamassa
ca
niddaro
hoti
nippapo
dhammapitirasaj
dhamma
piti
pivaj