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

List of Abbreviations

# yatha pi bhamaro pupphaj vannagandhaj ahethayaj

# paleti rasam adaya evaj game muni care

# (DhP 49)

Sentence Translation:

Just like a bee leaves the flower, not hurting the color and smell,
having taken its juice, so should a wise man walk through the village.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yatha pi bhamaro pupphaj vanna+gandhaj a+hethayaj
| | | | | | | |
Rel.Adv. conj. N.m. N.n. N.m. N.m. neg. Adj.n.
|_________| Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
| | | |______| |______|
| | |__________| |
| | |_________________|
| | |_________________________________
| |_____________________________________|
|__________________________|

List of Abbreviations

paleti rasam adaya evaj game muni care
| | | | | | |
V.act.in. N.m. V.ger. Adv. N.m. N.m. V.act.
3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg. | | Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
| |_____| | | |________|
|_____________| | |____________|
_______| |____________|
|_________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yatha, Rel.Adv.: just as.

pi, conj.: also, too.

bhamaro: bhamara-, N.m.: bee. Nom.Sg. = bhamaro.

pupphaj: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Sg. = pupphaj.

vannagandhaj: vannagandha-, N.m: color and smell. A compound of:
vanna-, N.m.: color.
gandha-, N.m.: smell.
Acc.Sg. = vannagandhaj.

List of Abbreviations

ahethayaj: ahethayant-, Adj.: not hurting. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word hethayant-, Adj.: hurting. This is an a.pr.p. of the verb heth- (to hurt, to injure, to make harm). Nom.Sg. = ahethayaj.

paleti, V.: leaves. It is a contracted form of the verb palayati (same meaning). The verb root is palay-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = paleti.

rasam: rasa-, N.m.: juice. Acc.Sg. = rasam.

adaya, V.ger.: having taken. The verb root is da- (to give), with the prefix a- (from).
Thus a- + da- (to take).

List of Abbreviations

evaj, Adv.: so, thus.

game: gama-, N.m.: village. Loc.Sg. = game.

muni: muni-, N.m.: a wise man. Nom.Sg. = muni. The form muni is sometimes used in poetry.

care, V.: should walk. The verb root is car- (to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.
List of Abbreviations

This verse has two parenthetic sentences:
1) yatha pi bhamaro pupphaj vannagandhaj ahethayaj paleti rasam adaya (just like a bee leaves the flower, not hurting the color and smell, having taken its juice). The subject of this sentence is the noun bhamaro (bee, nominative singular) and there is also a clause vannagandhaj ahethayaj (not hurting the color and smell; accusative singular; and active present participle, nominative singular). The verb is paleti (leaves, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). There is a verbal clause, rasam adaya (having taken the juice; accusative singular; and gerundive). The object is the noun pupphaj (flower, accusative singular). The relative adverb yatha (just as), which forms a quite common phrase yatha pi (same meaning) with the conjunction pi (also), connects this sentence to the next one.
2) evaj game muni care (so should a wise man walk through the village). The subject is the noun muni (wise man, nominative singular) and the verb care (should walk, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun game (through the village, locative singular). The adverb evaj (thus, so) connects this sentence to the previous one.

Commentary:

This verse talks about the practice of alms-rounds. The monks are supposed to obtain alms food from the people, going house from house and taking something here, something there, especially from those, who have a lot. Just like a bee takes the juice from the flower but does no harm to it, so the monks should get the food from the villagers, making no harm to them by taking too much from one family or from the poor families.
The following story is associated with this verse.
In one village there lived a very rich but very miserly couple. One day they made some pancakes, but because they did not want to share them with others, they made them secretly.
The Buddha saw this and sent one of his chief disciples, Moggallana to their house. He arrived there and stood by the door. They tried to make a very small pancake and give it to him. But no matter how they tried, a small amount of dough would fill in the whole pan. Then they tried to offer him one of their own pancakes, but they were unable to separate them. So they gave him the whole basket with all their pancakes.
Moggallana invited them to the monastery to see the Buddha. They offered the pancakes to the Buddha and the monks. The Buddha delivered a discourse on charity and both the husband and wife attained the first stage of Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yatha
pi
bhamaro
pupphaj
vannagandhaj
vanna
gandhaj
ahethayaj
paleti
rasam
adaya
evaj
game
muni
care