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

List of Abbreviations

# mubca pure mubca pacchato

# majjhe mubca bhavassa paragu

# sabbattha vimuttamanaso

# na punaj jatijaraj upehisi

# (DhP 348)

Sentence Translation:

Let go of the past, let go of the future.
Let go of the present. When you cross over to the other shore of existence,
and your mind will be completely free,
you will never again come to birth and aging.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

mubca pure mubca pacchato
| | | |
V.act. Adv. V.act. Adv.
2.Sg.imp. | 2.Sg.imp. |
|__________| |_______|

List of Abbreviations

majjhe mubca bhavassa para+gu
| | | | |
Adj. V.act. N.m. N.n. N.m.
Loc.Sg. 2.Sg.imp. Gen.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|__________| | |____|
|________|
|_____________________________

List of Abbreviations

sabbattha vimutta+manaso
| | |
Adv. Adj. Adj.m.
| | Nom.Sg.
| |______|
|______________|
_______|
|________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

na punaj jati+jaraj upehisi
| | | | |
neg. Adv. N.f. N.f. V.act.
| | | Acc.Sg. 2.Sg.fut.
| | |____| |
|______|_______|_________|
|___| |
|_________|
_________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

mubca, V.: let go, abandon, give up, leave behind. The verb root is muc-, to free.
2.Sg.act.imp. = mubca.

pure, Adv.: before, formerly.

mubca: see above.

pacchato, Adv.: afterwards, after, later.

majjhe: majjha-, Adj.: middle. Here: present (in the middle between the past and the future).
Loc.Sg. = majjhe.

mubca: see above.

List of Abbreviations

bhavassa: bhava-, N.m.: becoming, existence. It is derived from the verb root bhu- (to be).
Gen.Sg. = bhavassa.

paragu: paragu-, N.m.: gone to the other shore, crossed over, gone beyond. It is a compound of:
para-, N.n.: the opposite shore, the other side.
gu-, suf.: going, having gone. It is derived from the verb root gam- (to go).
Nom.Sg. = paragu.

sabbattha, Adv.: everywhere, in every place.

vimuttamanaso: vimuttamanasa-, Adj.: with an emancipated mind. It is a compound of:
vimutta-, Adj.: emancipated, freed, released. It is a p.p. of the verb root muc- (to release) with the prefix vi- (separation).
manasa-, N.n.: belonging to the mind, intention, purpose, mind, mental action, heart. It is derived from the word manas-, N.n.: mind.
Nom.Sg.m. = vimuttamanaso.

List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

punaj, Adv.: again.

jatijaraj: jatijara-, N.f.: birth and old age. It is a compound of:
jati-, N.f.: birth, rebirth.
jara-, N.f.: old age.
Acc.Sg. = jatijaraj.

upehisi: [you will] come to, approach. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix upa- (near).
2.Sg.act.fut. = upehisi.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) mubca pure (let go of the past). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is mubca (let go, 2nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adverb pure (before).
2) mubca pacchato (let go of the future). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is mubca (let go, 2nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adverb pacchato (after).
3) majjhe mubca (let go of the present). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is mubca (let go, 2nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adjective majjhe (in the middle, locative singular).
4) bhavassa paragu sabbattha vimuttamanaso na punaj jatijaraj upehisi (when you cross over to the other shore of existence, and your mind will be completely free, you will never again come to birth and aging). There are two subjects, the noun paragu (crossed over to the other shore, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun bhavassa (of existence, genitive singular) and the compound vimuttamanaso (with an emancipated mind, nominative singular) with its attribute, the adverb sabbatha (everywhere). The verb is upehisi ([you] will approach, 2nd person, singular, active, future). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb punaj (again). The object is the compound jatijaraj (to birth and aging, accusative singular).

Commentary:

Once a group of wandering acrobats came to Rajagaha. A young man named Uggasena fell in love with a beautiful dancer from the troupe. He married her and joined the group. But since he was not an acrobat, he could only help carry boxes, drive carts and perform similar tasks.
The girl gave birth to a son later but she often scolded her husband for not being able to do anything better. Uggasena therefore learned the secrets of acrobatics and became a very skilful acrobat himself.
One day the group returned to Rajagaha. Uggasena was eager to perform as he expected to be applauded for his skills. Just as he was performing, the Buddha passed near the place and all the attention of the crowd was drawn to him. Uggasena just sat there feeling very depressed. The Buddha told him this verse and Uggasena reached the Awakenment there and then. He became a monk immediately.
Later the Buddha told Uggasena's story. A long time ago, during the times of the Buddha Kassapa, Uggasena gave almsfood to a monk and made a wish that he could reach Arahantship one day. The monk was an Arahant and looked into the future and smiled, because he was able to see that his wish would be fulfilled. Uggasena misunderstood the monk's smile and thought the monk was laughing at him. Therefore he became angry. Because of that he had to travel with a group of acrobats for some time before reaching his goal.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mubca
pure
pacchato
majjhe
bhavassa
paragu
para
gu
sabbattha
vimuttamanaso
vimutta
manaso
na
punaj
jatijaraj
jati
jaraj
upehisi