Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# sekho pathavij vicessati yamalokaj ca imaj sadevakaj

# sekho dhammapadaj sudesitaj kusalo puppham iva pacessati

# (DhP 45)

Sentence Translation:

A disciple will investigate the earth and this Yama's world with its deities.
A disciple will understand this well taught Dharma-verse, as a skilful person picks flowers.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sekho pathavij vicessati yama+lokaj ca imaj sadevakaj
| | | | | | | |
N.m. N.f. V.act. N.m. N.m. conj. Pron.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.fut. | Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|__________|________| |_____| | | |
|___| |________|_______| |
| | |___________|
| |________|
|_______________________________|

List of Abbreviations

sekho dhamma+padaj sudesitaj kusalo puppham iva pacessati
| | | | | | | |
N.m. N.m. N.n. Adj.n. N.m. N.n. part. V.act.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.fut.
| |______| | |_______| | |
| |__________| |__________| |
| |_____________________| |
|___________________________|_______________________|
|_________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

sekho: sekha-, N.m.: disciple, pupil, student, a Buddhist disciple. Nom.Sg. = sekho.

pathavij: pathavi-, N.f.: earth. Acc.Sg. = pathavij.

vicessati: will investigate. The verb is vicinati (to investigate, to examine), the root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the prefix vi- ("detail"). 3.Sg.act.fut = vicessati.

yamalokaj: yamaloka-, N.m.: Yama's world. A compound of:
yama-, N.m.: Yama, the ruler of the underworld, the king of death.
loka-, N.m.; world.
Acc.Sg. = yamalokaj.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

imaj: idaj-, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.m. = imaj.

sadevakaj: sadevaka-, Adj.: with the gods. The word deva-, N.m.: god, deity, with the prefix sa- (with, together) and suffix -ka- (the suffix for forming adjectives).
Acc.Sg.m. = sadevakaj.

sekho: see above.

List of Abbreviations

dhammapadaj: dhammapada-, N.n.: verse on Dharma, a portion of the Dharma.
A compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold.
Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
pada-, N.n.: portion, verse.
Acc.Sg. = dhammapadaj.

sudesitaj: sudesita-, Adj.: well taught. The word desita-, Adj.: taught (a p.p. of the verb root dis-, to teach) with the prefix su- (well, good). Acc.Sg.n. = sudesitaj.

List of Abbreviations

kusalo: kusala-, Adj.: skilful. As a N.m.: a skilful man. Nom.Sg. = kusalo.

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

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).

pacessati: will understand, will know, will realize. The verb is pacinati, to understand, to realize; but its different meaning is to gather, to collect, to pick. Both meanings are used here: understand and realize the world and the verses and pick the flowers. The verb root ci- (to collect, to accumulate) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.fut. = pacessati.

List of Abbreviations

The two lines of this verse form two syntactically separated sentences.
In the first one, the subject is the noun sekho (disciple, nominative singular). The verb is vicessati (will investigate, 3rd person, singular, active, future tense). There are two paratactic objects: pathavij (earth, accusative singular) and yamalokaj (Yama's world, accusative singular) with two attributes, imaj (as above) and sadevakaj (with the gods, accusative singular). These two objects are connected by the conjunction ca (and).
In the second sentence, the subjects is again the noun sekho (as above). The verb is pacessati ("will understand" and "will pick", 3rd person, singular, active, future tense). The object is the noun dhammapadaj (verse on the Dharma, accusative singular) with one attribute, the adjective sudesitaj (well taught, accusative singular). There is a parenthetic clause, kusalo puppham iva (like a skilful [one] flowers). Here the noun-adjective kusalo (skilful [one], nominative singular) is the subject. The object is the noun puppham (flower, accusative singular). The verb is not in the clause itself, implying the verb pacessati from the main sentence. The particle iva (as, like) connects the clause to the sentence.

Commentary:

The story for this verse is the same as for the previous one (DhP 44).
The disciple of the Buddha is able to investigate this world. By understanding and realizing the Dharma we can also fully understand the whole world with all its beings, because the Dharma is after all concerned just with this world, its conditions and our position in this world. So, just as a skilful garland-maker can pick flowers easily, we, as Buddha's followers, can investigate the Dharma and with it the whole world.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:
sekho
pathavij
vicessati
yamalokaj
ca
imaj
sadevakaj
dhammapadaj
sudesitaj
kusalo
puppham
iva
pacessati