Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# yatha agaraj ducchannaj vutthi samativijjhati

# evaj abhavitaj cittaj rago samativijjhati

# (DhP 13)

Translation:

As a poorly covered house is penetrated by a rain,
thus an undeveloped mind is penetrated by passion.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yatha agaraj du+cchannaj vutthi samativijjhati
| | | | | |
Rel.Adv. N.n. pref. Adj.n. N.f. V.act.in.
| Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
| | |_____| |________|
| |_______| |
| |__________________|
|_______________________|
|___________________________________________________

evaj a+bhavitaj cittaj rago samativijjhati List of Abbreviations
| | | | | |
Adv. neg. Adj.n. N.n. N.m. V.act.in.
| | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
| |_____| | |_________|
| |__________| |
| |_________________|
|______________________|
___________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

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

agaraj: agara-, N.n.: house, home. Ac.Sg. = agaraj.

ducchannaj: ducchanna-, Adj.: badly covered. It is a p.p. of the verb chad- (channa) with the prefix du- (bad). Acc.Sg.n. = ducchannaj.

vutthi: vutthi-, N.f.: rain. Nom.Sg. = vutthi.

samativijjhati, V.: to penetrate. The verb vidh- (to pierce, to perforate) with prefixes sam- (altogether) and ati- (above, extremely). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = samativijjhati.

List of Abbreviations

evaj, Adv.: thus

abhavitaj: abhavita-, Adj.: undeveloped. It is a p.p. of the verb bhaveti (to develop, to meditate) with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.n. = abhavitaj.

cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaj.

rago: raga-, N.m.: passion. Nom.Sg. = rago.

samativijjhati, V.: see above
List of Abbreviations

Two lines of this verse form two sentences, which are both parts of one compound sentence.
First one is yatha agaraj ducchannaj vutthi samativijjhati (as a poorly covered house is penetrated by a rain). Here the subject is vutthi (rain, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is agaraj (the house, accusative singular). This word has one attribute ducchannaj (poorly covered, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The relative clause yatha (like, as) connects this sentence to the following one (in a pattern yatha... - evaj...).
The second part is evaj abhavitaj cittaj rago samativijjhati (thus an undeveloped mind is penetrated by passion). The subject is rago (passion, nominative singular). The verb is samativijjhati (penetrates, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is cittaj (the mind, accusative singular). This word has one attribute - abhavitaj (undeveloped, accusative singular, it agrees with the main object). The adverb evaj (thus) connects this sentence to the previous one.

Commentary:
A roof is the most important part of any house. If the roof is not well done, if we try to "cheat" and use cheap material of poor quality, we can be surprised when a strong rain comes. The roof will not be able to hold off the water and it will leak. Everything inside the house then becomes wet instantly - and after the rain we can start building again.
In the same way, the mind is the most important part of the human being. If it is not "well developed", if we have not practiced meditation earnestly, it will also "leak". The passions, hatred and other stuff will enter our mind and make it difficult for us to purify our minds. After one such "rain" we can start "rebuilding" our mind again.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yatha
agaraj
ducchannaj
vutthi
samativijjhati
evaj
abhavitaj
cittaj
rago