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

List of Abbreviations

# appamado amatapadaj pamado maccuno padaj

# appamatta na miyanti ye pamatta yatha mata

# (DhP 21)

Translation:

Conscientiousness is the state of deathlessness. Negligence is the state of death.
The conscientious ones do not die. Those, who are negligent, are as if dead.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

a+ppamado a+mata+padaj pamado maccuno padaj
| | | | | | | |
neg. N.m. neg. N.n. N.n. N.m. N.m. N.n.
| Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_____| |___| | | |________|
| |_______| |____________|
|______________|

List of Abbreviations

a+ppamatta na miyanti ye pamatta yatha mata
| | | | | | | |
neg. Adj.m. neg. V.med.in. Rel.Pron. Adj.m. Rel.Adv. Adj.m.
| Nom.Pl. | 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Nom.Pl.
|______| |______| |________| |________|
|____________| |________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

appamado: appamada-, N.m.: conscientiousness, non-negligence. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamada = appamada). Nom.Sg. = appamado.

amatapadaj: amatapada-, N.n.: state of deathlessness. A compound of:
amata-, N.n.: deathlessness. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word mata-, Adj.: dead.
A p.p. of mar- (to die).
pada-, N.n.: state, place.
Nom.Sg. = amatapadaj.

pamado: pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Nom.Sg. = pamado.

List of Abbreviations

maccuno: maccu-, N.m.: death. Gen.Sg. = maccuno.

padaj: pada-, N.n.: state, place. Nom.Sg. = padaj.

appamatta: appamatta-, Adj.: conscientious, non-negligent. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect).
Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamatta = appamatta).
Nom.Pl. = appamatta.

List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

miyanti, V.: die. The verb mar- (to die). 3.pl.in.med.pres. = miyanti.

ye: yat-, Rel.Pron.: those, who. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

pamatta: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect).
Nom.Pl. = pamatta.

yatha, Rel.Adv.: as if, like.

mata: mata-, Adj.: dead. A p.p. of the verb mar- (to die). Nom.Pl.m. = mata.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four practically separated sentences. First of them is appamado amatapadaj (conscientiousness is the state of deathlessness). The subject is the word appamado (conscientiousness, nominative singular). The verb to be is omitted. The object is the word amatapadaj (state of deathlessness, nominative singular).
Second sentence is pamado maccuno padaj (negligence is the state of death). The subject is the word pamado (negligence, nominative singular). Again, the verb to be is omitted. The object is the word padaj (state, nominative singular) with the attribute maccuno (death's, genitive singular).
Third sentence is appamatta na miyanti (the conscientious ones do not die). Here the subject is appamatta (the conscientious ones, nominative plural). The verb here is miyanti (die, 3rd person, plural, medium, indicative, present tense) and it is negated by the negative particle na (not).
Last sentence is ye pamatta yatha mata (those, who are negligent, are as if dead). This is actually a compound sentence. The first half is ye pamatta (those, who are negligent). The subject is ye (those, who, nominative plural). The verb to be is omitted. The object is pamatta (negligent, nominative plural). The second part is yatha mata (as if dead). Here the subject should be te (they) but it is omitted, as is the verb to be. The object is the word mata (dead, nominative plural). The relative adverb yatha (as, like) connects the two halves of this sentence.

Commentary:

Conscientiousness is one of the most important characteristics to be developed. Without it, we can not proceed on our path towards awakenment. If we are negligent, how can we find energy to purify our minds?
So, the conscientiousness is the path to deathlessness. Only with it we can find our way to the final goal, Nirvana, which is the deathless state. Negligence on the other hand is the way to the repeated cycle of birth and death.
Conscientious people are able to reach the Nirvana, thus escaping the cycle of rebirths, whereas those, who are negligent, can not escape. They might as well be dead already.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

appamado
amatapadaj
pamado
maccuno
padaj
appamatta
na
miyanti
ye
pamatta
yatha
mata