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

List of Abbreviations

# muhuttam api ce vibbu panditaj payirupasati

# khippaj dhammaj vijanati jivha suparasaj yatha

# (DhP 65)

Sentence Translation:

An intelligent person can attend on a wise man even for a second,
he will quickly understand the Dharma, like a tongue knows the taste of the soup.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

muhuttam api ce vibbu panditaj payirupasati
| | | | | |
N.m. part. part. N.m. N.m. V.act.in.
Acc.Sg. |____| Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|___________| |_______|_______|
| |_____|
|__________________|
|___________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

khippaj dhammaj vijanati jivha supa+rasaj yatha
| | | | | | |
Adv. N.m. V.act.in. N.f. N.m. N.m. Rel.Adv.
| Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. |
|__________|________| | |_____| |
|_____| |________| |
________| |___________|
|__________________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.

api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).

ce, part.: if.

vibbu: vibbu-, Adj.: intelligent. As a N.m.: intelligent person. Nom.Sg. = vibbu.

panditaj: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Acc.Sg. = panditaj.

payirupasati, V.: to attend on, "to sit close around". The verb root is as- (to sit) with prefixes pari- (around) and upa- (close to, near).
Euphonic combination: pari + upa = payirupa-.
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = payirupasati.

List of Abbreviations

khippaj, Adv.: quickly. It is derived from the word khippa-, Adj.: quick, fast.

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

vijanati, V.: to understand, to realize. The verb root is ba- or ja- (to know) with the prefix vi- (intensifying prefix). 3.Sg.act.in.pres.: vijanati.

jivha: jivha-, N.f.: tongue. Nom.Sg. = jivha.

suparasaj: suparasa-, N. : taste of the soup. It is a compound of:
supa-, N.m.: soup, sauce.
rasa-, N.m.: flavor, taste.
Acc.Sg. = suparasaj.

yatha, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

List of Abbreviations

Two lines of this verse form two related sentences.
In the first sentence, the subject is the noun/adjective vibbu (intelligent person, nominative singular). The verb is payirupasati (attends on, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun panditaj (a wise man, accusative singular). The verb has an attribute, the noun muhuttam (for a second, accusative singular). There are two particles, api (also, even) and ce (if) which form a phrase api ce (even if).
The subject of the second sentence is omitted, implying the subject of the previous sentence (vibbu). The verb is vijanati (understands, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adverb khippaj (quickly). The object is the noun dhammaj (Dharma, accusative singular). There is a clause in this sentence, jivha suparasaj yatha (like a tongue the taste of the soup). The subject here is the noun jivha (tongue, nominative singular) and the object the noun suparasaj (the taste of the soup, accusative singular). The verb is omitted in the clause; the verb vijanati (knows) from the main sentence is implied. The relative adverb yatha (just like) connects the clause to the main sentence.

Commentary:

In the city of Paveyyaka there lived a group of young friends. Once they went to a forest and took a courtesan with them. While they were resting, the courtesan ran away with their money. While they searched for her in the forest, they met the Buddha. They stopped looking for the woman and listened to the Buddha's teachings. Immediately they all became monks and followed the Buddha to the monastery. They all practiced very diligently and soon (when the Buddha was delivering one of the discourses), they all became Arahants.
Some other monks were surprised, how is it possible to attain the arahantship so quickly. The Buddha explained by this verse, that an intelligent person could quickly realize the Dharma although he is associated with a wise person only for a very short time - just as the tongue tastes the soup.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

muhuttam
api
ce
vibbu
panditaj
payirupasati
khippaj
dhammaj
vijanati
jivha
suparasaj
supa
rasaj
yatha