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List of Abbreviations

# ye jhanapasuta dhira nekkhammupasame rata

# deva pi tesaj pihayanti sambuddhanaj satimataj

# (DhP 181)

Sentence Translation:

The wise ones, who are intent upon meditation, delighting in renunciation and calm,
completely awakened and wakeful ones, even the gods do envy them.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

ye jhana+pasuta dhira nekkhamma+upasame rata
| | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. N.n. Adj.m. N.m. N.n. N.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Pl. | Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Loc.Sg. Nom.Pl.
| |_____| | |_________| |
| |_________| |____________|
| |_______________________|
|_______________________________|
|________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

deva pi tesaj pihayanti sambuddhanaj satimataj
| | | | | |
N.m. part. Pron.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Pl. | Gen.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Gen.Pl. Gen.Pl.
|________| |_______|_________|____________|
| |____|
|_______________|
___________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

ye: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

jhanapasuta: jhanapasuta-, Adj.: intent upon meditation. It is a compound of:
jhana-, N.n.: meditation, concentration. It is derived from the verb root jhe- (to meditate, to concentrate).
pasuta-, Adj.: pursuing, intent upon.
Nom.Pl.m. = jhanapasuta.

dhira: dhira-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Pl.m. = dhira.

nekkhammupasame: nekkhammupasama-, N.m.: renunciation and calm. It is a compound of:
nekkhamma-, N.n.: renunciation, giving up [the world].
upasama-, N.m.: calm, quiet, tranquility. It is derived from the verb root sam- (to be appeased) with the prefix upa- (towards, up).
Euphonic combination: nekkhamma- + upasamma- = nekkhammupasama-.
Loc.Sg. = nekkhammupasame.

List of Abbreviations

rata: rata-, Adj.: delighting in. It is a p.p. of the verb ram- (to delight in, to enjoy). Nom.Pl.m. = rata.

deva: deva-, N.m.: god, celestial being. Nom.Pl. = deva.

pi, conj.: also.

tesaj: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Pl.m. = tesaj.

pihayanti, V.: envy, covet. The verb root is pih-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = pihayanti.

sambuddhanaj: sambuddha-, Adj.: completely awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb sam+budh-, to awaken completely. Prefix sam- denotes the completeness of the action, "together", "wholly". The verb budh- means to wake up. Gen.Pl.m. = sambuddhanaj.

satimataj: satimant-, Adj.: mindful, wakeful. The word sati-, N.f.: mindfulness, wakefulness, alertness, with the possessive suffix -mant. The form satimant- is used in poetry.
Gen.Pl.m. = satimataj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
1) ye jhanapasuta dhira nekkhammupasame rata (the wise ones, who are intent upon meditation, delighting in renunciation and calm). The subject is the noun dhira (wise ones, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the compound jhanapasuta (intent upon meditation, nominative plural) and the past participle rata (delighting in, nominative plural). This last word has its own attribute, the compound nekkhammupasame (in renunciation and calm, locative singular). the verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The relative adverb ye (those, who; nominative plural) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following one.
2) deva pi tesaj pihayanti sambuddhanaj satimataj (even the gods do envy them, [those] completely awakened and wakeful ones). The subject is the noun deva (gods, nominative plural). It is modified by the particle pi (even). The verb is pihayanti (envy, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the pronoun tesaj (them, genitive plural) with its two attributes, the adjectives sambuddhanaj (completely awakened ones, genitive plural) and satimataj (wakeful ones, genitive plural).

Commentary:

Once, when the Buddha was staying in Savatthi, he was challenged by some other ascetics to perform a miracle. He therefore performed the Twin Miracle and proceeded to the Tavatimsa heaven to teach Abhidharma there. His mother had been reborn in the Tusita heaven, but went to Tavatimsa to learn the Teaching. After hearing the Dharma from the Buddha, his mother together with many other gods reached the first level of Awakenment.
The Buddha spent three months in Tavatimsa. Venerable Sariputta was spending the Rain Retreat in Samkassa and taught the Abhidharma, as the Buddha instructed him. At the end of the Retreat Venerable Moggallana went to Tavatimsa to see the Buddha and was informed that the Buddha would be coming back to Samkassa on the fool moon day at the end of the Rain Retreat.
On that day the Buddha appeared, six colored rays shining from his body. A great number of gods accompanied him and paid his homage to him before they left. Sariputta exclaimed how magnificent the gods looked and how extraordinary that both human beings and gods respect the Buddha so much.
The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that indeed even the gods envy a buddha his qualities.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ye
jhanapasuta
jhana
pasuta
dhira
nekkhammupasame
nekkhamma
upasame
rata
deva
pi
tesaj
pihayanti
sambuddhanaj
satimataj