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

List of Abbreviations

# pamadaj anuyubjanti bala dummedhino jana

# appamadaj ca medhavi dhanaj setthaj va rakkhati

# (DhP 26)

Translation:

The fools, the ignorant people give themselves up to negligence.
And the wise one protects conscientiousness as the greatest treasure.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

pamadaj anuyubjanti bala dummedhino jana
| | | | |
N.m. V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m. N.m.
Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|____________| | |_________|
| |____________|
|_____________________|

List of Abbreviations

a+ppamadaj ca medhavi dhanaj setthaj va rakkhati
| | | | | | | |
neg. N.m. conj. N.m. N.n. Adj.n. part. V.act.in.
| Acc.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|_____| | | |_______| | |
| |_______| |________| |
| |____________________|___________|
|_________________________________| |
|_____________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

pamadaj: pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Acc.Sg. = pamadaj.

anuyubjanti, V.: to practice, to give oneself up to, to pursue. The verb yubj- (to join, to unite) with the prefix anu- (along, at, to). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = anuyubjanti.

bala: bala-, N.m.: fool. Nom.Pl. = bala.

dummedhino: dummedhin-, Adj.m.: foolish, ignorant. Derived from the word medha-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the possessive suffix -in and then the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du + medhin = dummedhin). Nom.Pl. = dummedhino.

jana: jana-, N.m.: person, man. Nom.Pl. = jana.

List of Abbreviations

appamadaj: appamada-, N.m.: conscientiousness, non-negligence. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamada-, N.m.: negligence. Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamada = appamada). Acc.Sg. = appamadaj.

ca, conj.: and.

medhavi: medhavin-, N.m.: intelligent person, wise one. Nom.Sg. = medhavi.

dhanaj: dhana-, N.n.: wealth, riches. Acc.Sg. = dhanaj.

setthaj: settha-, Adj.: best. Acc.Sg.n. = setthaj.

va, part.: as, like.

rakkhati, V.: protects. The verb root rakkh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = rakkhati.

List of Abbreviations

The subject of the first sentence is bala (fools, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the word jana (people, nominative plural) which has its own attribute dummedhino (ignorant, nominative singular). The verb is anuyubjanti (pursue, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is pamadaj (negligence, accusative singular).
In the second sentence, the subject is medhavi (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is rakkhati (protects, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is appamadaj (conscientiousness, accusative singular). There is a subordinate clause to the object, introduced by the particle va (like, as): dhanaj setthaj. The main object here is dhanaj (treasure, accusative singular) and the adjective setthaj (best, accusative singular) is its attribute.

Commentary:

The story associated with this verse and the following one (DhP 27) speaks about a festival that was celebrated in the city of Savatthi while the Buddha was residing there.
Many young men were practicing some sort of religious rituals, roaming about the city, shouting and begging for money at every door in the city.
Buddha's lay disciples in that city warned him not to enter the city and they themselves did not leave their houses. After one week of the festival ended, the Buddha again entered Savatthi and then spoke these two verses (DhP 26 and 27).

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pamadaj
anuyubjanti
bala
dummedhino
jana
appamadaj
ca
medhavi
dhanaj
setthaj
va
rakkhati