Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# tinadosani khettani ragadosa ayaj paja

# tasma hi vitaragesu dinnaj hoti mahapphalaj

# (DhP 356)

Sentence Translation:

Fields are ruined by weeds. This mankind is ruined by passions.
Therefore, what is given to those devoid of passions brings much fruit.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

tina+dosani khettani raga+dosa ayaj paja
| | | | | | |
N.n. Adj.n. N.n. N.m. Adj.f. Pron.f. N.f.
| Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|______| | |_____| |________|
|__________| |______________|

List of Abbreviations

tasma hi vita+ragesu dinnaj hoti maha+pphalaj
| | | | | | | |
Pron. part. Adj. Adj.m. Adj.n. V.act.in. Adj. Adj.n.
Abl.Sg. | | Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg.
|________| |____| | | |______|
| |_________| |_________|
| |__________________|
|________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

tinadosani: tinadosa-, Adj.: ruined by weeds. It is a compound of:
tina-, N.n.: grass, weed.
dosa-, N.m.: corruption, fault.
Nom.Pl.n. = tinadosani.

khettani: khetta-, N.n.: field. Nom.Pl. = khettani.

ragadosa: ragadosa-, Adj.: ruined by passions. It is a compound of:
raga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color).
dosa-, N.m.; see above.
Nom.Sg.f. = ragadosa.

ayaj: idaj-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.f. = ayaj.

paja: paja-, N.f.: beings, people, mankind. Nom.Sg. = paja.

tasma: tad-, Pron.: that. Abl.Sg. = tasma (therefore, lit. "from that").

List of Abbreviations

hi, part.: indeed.

vitaragesu: vitaraga-, Adj.: whose passions are gone, devoid of passion. It is a compound of:
vita-, Adj.: gone. It is a p.p. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix vi- (away).
raga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color).
Loc.Plm. = vitaragesu.

dinnaj: dinna-, Adj.: given. It is a p.p. of the verb root da- (to give). Nom.Sg.n. = dinnaj.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhu- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

mahapphalaj: mahapphala-, Adj.: bearing much fruit. It is a compound of:
mahant-, Adj.: big, great, much. The compound form used here: maha-.
phala-, N.n.: fruit.
Euphonic combination: maha- + phala- = mahapphala-.
Nom.Sg.n. = mahapphalaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) tinadosani khettani (fields are ruined by weeds). The subject is the noun khettani (fields, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound tinadosani (ruined by weeds, nominative plural).
2) ragadosa ayaj paja (this mankind is ruined by passions). The subject is the noun paja (mankind, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun ayaj (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound ragadosa (ruined by passions, nominative singular).
3) tasma hi vitaragesu dinnaj hoti mahapphalaj (therefore, what is given to those devoid of passions brings much fruit). The subject is the past participle dinnaj (given, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound vitaragesu (to those devoid of passions, locative plural). The verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound mahapphalaj (of great fruit, nominative singular). The sentence is introduced by the pronoun tasma (therefore, "from that", ablative singular). It is stressed by the particle hi (indeed).

Commentary:

When the Buddha's mother died, she became a goddess named Santusita in the Tavatimsa heaven. When the Buddha attained the Awakenment, he went there to teach her the Dharma. While he was there, he also met two other gods. One of them, Indaka, was a man in his previous existence, who once offered a little almsfood to Venerable Anuruddha, the Buddha's disciple. The other god, Ankura, had given much almsfood in his lifetime as a human being, but none of the almsfood was to truly Awakened people. Ankura asked the Buddha how was it possible, that he had given so much and still was reborn in the same heaven as Indaka, who gave almsfood only once. The Buddha then replied with this verse (and three following ones, DhP 357, DhP 358 and DhP 359), saying that quality is more important than quantity.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

tinadosani
tina
dosani
khettani
ragadosa
raga
dosa
ayaj
paja
tasma
hi
vitaragesu
vita
ragesu
dinnaj
hoti
mahapphalaj
maha
phalaj