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

List of Abbreviations

# appassut'ayaj puriso balivaddo va jirati

# majsani tassa vaddhanti pabba tassa na vaddhati

# (DhP 152)

Sentence Translation:

The person without learning grows old like an ox.
His flesh grows; his wisdom does not.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

appa+ssuto ayaj puriso balivaddo va jirati
| | | | | | |
Adj. Adj.m. Pron.m. N.m. N.m. part. V.act.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.caus.
|______| |_______| |______| |
|______________| | |
|_______________________|_________|
|____________|

List of Abbreviations

majsani tassa vaddhanti pabba tassa na vaddhati
| | | | | | |
N.n. Pron.m. V.act.in. N.f. Pron.m. neg. V.act.in.
Nom.Pl. Gen.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|__________| | |_______| |______|
|_____________| |____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

appassuto: appassuta-, Adj.: with small knowledge, uneducated, ignorant. It is a compound of:
appa-, Adj.: little, few.
suta-, N.n.: knowledge, learning. Lit. it is a p.p. of the verb su- (to hear).
Euphonic combination: appa- + suta- = appassuta-.
Nom.Sg.m. = appassuto.

ayaj: idaj-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.m. = ayaj.
Euphonic combination: appassuto + ayaj = appassut'ayaj.

puriso: purisa-, N.m.: person. Nom.Sg. = puriso.

balivaddo: balivadda-, N.m.: ox. Nom.Sg. = balivaddo.

va, part.: as, like.

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

List of Abbreviations

majsani: majsa-, N.n.: flesh, meat. Nom.Pl. = majsani.

tassa: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Sg.m. = tassa.

vaddhanti, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaddh-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vaddhanti.

pabba: pabba-, N.f.: wisdom. Nom.Sg. = pabba.

tassa: see above.

na, neg.: not.

vaddhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaddh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaddhati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) appassut'ayaj puriso balivaddo va jirati (the person without learning grows old like an ox). The subject is the noun puriso (person, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the adjective appassuto (without learning, nominative singular) and the pronoun ayaj (this, nominative singular). The verb is jirati (grows old, 3rd person, singular, active, causative). There is a clause, balivaddo va (like an ox). Here, the noun balivaddo (ox, nominative singular) is the subject, the particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the rest of the sentence.
2) majsani tassa vaddhanti (his flesh grows). The subject is the noun majsani (meat, nominative plural) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa (his, genitive singular). The verb is vaddhanti (grow, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
3) pabba tassa na vaddhati (his wisdom does not). The subject is the noun pabba (wisdom, nominative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun tassa (his, genitive singular). The verb is vaddhati (grow, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not).

Commentary:

There was a monk named Laludayi. He was not very bright. He was never able to say things, which were appropriate for the occasion. On happy occasions he would talk about suffering and sorrow and on sorrowful occasions he would talk about happiness and joy. He was also never able to understand that he did and said something inappropriate in these cases. The Buddha spoke this verse in reference to Laludayi.
He also revealed the following story: in one of his former lives, Laludayi had been a farmer. He had two oxen to plow the fields. Suddenly one of them died. The farmer asked his son to go to the king and request another ox. But the son told him to go himself and taught him a verse to say in front of the king.
But the farmer made a mistake and instead of "My ox died, please give me another one", he said "My ox died, please take the other one away from me".
Fortunately, the king was very wise and understood that Laludayi just made a mistake and gave him sixteen oxen to help him with his farming.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

appassuto
appa
suto
ayaj
puriso
balivaddo
va
jirati
majsani
tassa
vaddhanti
pabba
na
vaddhati