Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# jiranti ve rajaratha sucitta atho sariram pi jaraj upeti

# sataj ca dhammo na jaraj upeti santo have sabbhi pavedayanti

# (DhP 151)

Sentence Translation:

Beautiful king's chariots wear out. And also the body gets old.
But the teaching of the good ones does not get old. The good ones teach it to each other.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

jiranti ve raja+ratha sucitta atho sariram pi jaraj upeti
| | | | | | | | | |
V.act. part. N.m. N.m. Adj.m. part. N.n. part. N.f. V.act.in.
3.Pl.caus. | | Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
| | |_____| | | |____| |_______|
| | |__________| | |___________|
|_________|____________| |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

sataj ca dhammo na jaraj upeti santo have sabbhi pavedayanti
| | | | | | | | | |
Adj.m. conj. N.m. neg. N.f. V.act.in. Adj.m. part. Adj.m. V.act.
Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Pl. | Ins.Pl. 3.Pl.caus.
|_______|_____| |_____|_______| | | |________|
|___| |___| |_____|_________|
|___________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

jiranti, V.: get old, to decay. It is a causative of the verb root jar- (to crush). 3.Pl.act.caus. = jiranti.

ve, part.: indeed.

rajaratha: rajaratha-, N.m.: king's chariots. It is a compound of:
rajan-, N.m.: king. The compound form of rajan is raja-.
ratha-, N.m.: chariot.
Nom.Pl. = rajaratha.

sucitta: sucitta-, Adj.: well-colored, beautiful, bright. It is the word citta-, Adj.: bright, with the prefix su- (good, well). Nom.Pl.m. = sucitta.

atho, part.: and, also, further.

sariram: sarira-, N.n.: body. Nom.Sg. = sariram.

List of Abbreviations

pi, part.: also.

jaraj: jara-, N.f.: old age. Acc.Sg. = jaraj.

upeti, V.: undergo, come to, approach. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix upa- (near). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = upeti.

sataj: sant-, Adj.: real, good, true. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Thus sant- literally means "existing", "being". Gen.Pl. = sataj.

ca, conj.: and.

dhammo: dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together". Nom.Sg. = dhammo.

na, neg.: not.

List of Abbreviations

jaraj: see above.

upeti: see above.

santo: sant-, Adj.: see above. Nom.Pl. = santo.

have, part.: indeed, truly.

sabbhi: sant-, Adj.: see above. Ins.Pl. = sabbhi.

pavedayanti, V.: declare, make known, teach. It is a causative of the verb root vid- (to know), with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Pl.act.caus. = pavedayanti.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) jiranti ve rajaratha sucitta (beautiful king's chariots wear out). The subject is the compound noun rajaratha (king's chariots, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective sucitta (beautiful, nominative plural). The verb is jiranti (wera out, decay; 3rd person, plural, active, causative). The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
2) atho sariram pi jaraj upeti (and also the body gets old). The subject is the noun sariraj (body, nominative singular). It is modified by the particle pi (also). The verb is upeti (goes to, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun jaraj (to the old age, accusative singular). The particle atho (and, further) introduces the sentence and connects it to the previous one.
3) sataj ca dhammo na jaraj upeti (but the teaching of the good ones does not get old). The subject is the noun dhammo (teaching, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective sataj (of the good ones, genitive plural). The verb is upeti (goes to, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun jaraj (to the old age, accusative singular). The conjunction ca (and) connects this sentence to the previous one.
4) santo have sabbhi pavedayanti (the good ones teach it to each other). The subject is the adjective santo (good ones, nominative plural). The verb is pavedayanti (teach, make known; 3rd person, plural, active, causative). The object is the noun sabbhi (to the good ones [lit. "with the good ones"], instrumental plural). The particle have (indeed) serves only for metrical purposes.

Commentary:

Queen Mallika was the wife of King Pasenadi. Once she went to the bathroom to wash herself and her dog entered with her. While she bent over to wash her feet, the dog started to misbehave with her and the queen did not stop it. When she came out, the king told her he saw everything through the window and scolded her for her behavior. But Mallika denied doing anything and suggested that the bathroom was enchanted - whoever went inside could be seen doing strange things through the window. She sent the king inside and when he came out, she told him she saw him misbehaving with a goat. The king, not being very smart accepted this as an explanation.
But the queen felt very bad about lying to the king for many years. When she was dying, this moment kept coming to her consciousness over and over again. Because our dying thoughts determine our next birth, she was born in a state of suffering. The king wanted to ask the Buddha where Mallika was reborn, but Buddha was not willing to tell him, because he did not want to hurt Pasenadi's feelings.
Only after seven days in the state of suffering, the queen was reborn in Tusita heaven as a result of her great meritorious deeds. Only then did the Buddha reply to the king's question. The king was happy to hear that, but at the same time he felt sad for her death. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that everything is subject to old age and death; therefore we must practice the Dhamma diligently.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

jiranti
ve
rajaratha
raja
ratha
sucitta
atho
sariram
pi
jaraj
upeti
sataj
ca
dhammo
na
santo
have
sabbhi
pavedayanti