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

List of Abbreviations

# appamatto pamattesu suttesu bahujagaro

# abal'assaj va sigh'asso hitva yati sumedhaso

# (DhP 29)

Sentence Translation:

Conscientious amongst the negligent, watchful amongst the sleeping,
the wise one advances like a swift horse, having left behind a weak one.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

a+ppamatto pamattesu suttesu bahu+jagaro
| | | | | |
neg. Adj.m. Adj.m. Adj.m. Adj. Adj.m.
| Nom.Sg. Loc.Pl. Loc.Pl. | Nom.Sg.
|_____| | | |______|
|____________| |_________|
|___________________|
|___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

a + bala+assaj va sigha+asso hitva yati su+medhaso
| | | | | | | | | |
neg. N.n. N.m. part. Adj. N.m. V. V.act.in. pref. Adj.m.
|_____| Acc.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. ger. 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg.
|_______| | |_____| | | |______|
| | |________| |__________|
|__________|____________| |
|___| |
|__________________________|
______________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

appamatto: 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.Sg. = appamatto.

pamattesu: 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).
Loc.Pl. = pamattesu.

suttesu: sutta-, Adj.: sleeping. A p.p. of the verb sup- (to sleep). Loc.Pl. = suttesu.

List of Abbreviations

bahujagaro: bahujagara-, Adj.: very awake, very watchful. A compound of:
bahu-, Adj.: large, much, very.
jagara-, Adj.: awake, watchful. Derived from the verb jagarti (to be awake).
Nom.Sg. = bahujagaro.

abal'assaj: abal'assa-, N.m.: weak horse. A compound of:
abala-, Adj.: weak, powerless. The word bala-, N.n.: power, strength, negated by
the negative prefix a-.
assa-, N.m.: horse.
The contracted form abal'assa- is due to the metrical requirements.
Acc.Sg. = abal'assaj.

va, part.: as, like.

List of Abbreviations

sigh'asso: sigh'assa-, N.m.: swift horse. A compound of:
sigha-, Adj.: swift, quick.
assa-, N.m.: horse.
The contracted form sigh'assa- is due to the metrical requirements.
Nom.Sg. = sigh'asso.

hitva, V.ger.: having renounced, having left behind. A ger. of the verb ha- (to abandon, to leave).

yati, V.: goes. The verb root ya- (to go). 3.Sg.in.act.pres. = yati.

sumedhaso: sumedhasa-, N.m.: wise one. The word medhasa, Adj.: wise, intelligent, with the prefix su- (good, well). Nom.Sg. = sumedhaso.

List of Abbreviations

The subject of the sentence is the word sumedhaso (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is yati (goes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The subject has two attributes. They are 1) appamatto (conscientious, nominative singular) with its own attribute pamattesu (amongst negligent ones, locative plural) and 2) bahujagaro (very watchful, nominative singular) with its attribute suttesu (amongst sleeping ones, locative plural).
The sentence has a clause, abal'assaj va sigh'asso hitva (like a swift horse, having left behind a weak horse). Here, the subject is sigh'asso (a swift horse, nominative singular). The gerund hitva (having abandoned) serves as a verb. The object is abal'assaj (a weak horse, accusative singular).

Commentary:

Once, there were two monks, who were friends. They both got a subject of meditation from the Buddha. So they went to the forest monastery to meditate. One of them was rather lazy. Because it was winter, he was warming himself by the fire the first part of the night and the other part he spent talking to other monks and novices. But the other monk was very mindful and diligent. He spent the night meditating and soon he became an arahant.
After the end of the retreat they went back to see the Buddha. The lazy monk actually accused the diligent one of laziness! He told Buddha, whereas he himself was first warming himself by the fire and then "not-sleeping", his friend was idling, lying down and sleeping all the time. But the Buddha of course knew the truth and he told them this verse. One friend was like a weak horse, lazy and talkative, but the other one, like a swift horse, was diligent and mindful. And he left the other friend behind - he became an arahant.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

appamatto
pamattesu
suttesu
bahujagaro
abal'assaj
abala
assaj
va
sigh'asso
sigha
asso
hitva
yati
sumedhaso