Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# bahum pi ce sajhitaj bhasamano na takkaro hoti naro pamatto

# gopo va gavo ganayaj paresaj na bhagava samabbassa hoti

# (DhP 19)

Translation:

Even if he recites a lot of scriptures, but does not act accordingly, the negligent man.

He is like a cowherd who counts others' cows. He does not share the [blessings of] monkshood.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

bahum pi ce sajhitaj bhasamano na tak+karo hoti naro pamatto
| | | | | | | | | | |
Adj.m. part. part. N.m. Adj.m. neg. Pron. N.m. V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| | | |________| | |____| | |_________|
|_______|____|________| |_____|_________| |
|___| | |___| |
|______| | |
|______________________________|____________________|____________

List of Abbreviations

gopo va gavo ganayaj paresaj na bhagava samabbassa hoti
| | | | | | | | |
N.m. part. N.m. Adj.m. Adj.m. neg. Adj.m. N.n. V.act.in.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Pl. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
| | |______| | |______|________|________|
| | |___________| |________| |
|________|______________| |_________|
|____| |
______|__________________________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

bahum: bahu-, Adj.: much, many, a lot. Acc.Sg.m. = bahum.

pi, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled api).

ce, part.: if.

sajhitaj: sajhita-, Adj.: connected, joined, settled. A p.p. of the verb dha- (put) with the prefix saj- (together). As a N.m. = the Buddhist texts. Acc.Sg. = sajhitaj.

bhasamano: bhasamana-, Adj.: speaking. It is a med.pr.p. of the verb bhas- (to speak). Nom.Sg.m. = bhasamano.

List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

takkaro: takkara-, N.m.: acting accordingly (lit. "doer of that"). A compound of:
tat-, Pron.n.: that.
kara-, N.m.: doer. Derived from the verb kar- (to do).
The form takkara is due to the euphonic combination (tat + kara = takkara).
Nom.Sg. = takkaro.

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

naro: nara-, N.m.: man, person. Nom.Sg. = naro.

List of Abbreviations

pamatto: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent, careless. A p.p. of the verb pamajjati (to be careless, to neglect). The verb root is mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = pamatto.

gopo: gopa-, N.m.: cowherd. Nom.Sg. = gopo.

va, part.: as. like.

gavo: go-, N.m.: cow. Acc.Pl. = gavo.

ganayaj: ganayant-, Adj.: counting. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb gan- (to count).
Nom.Sg.m. = ganayaj.

List of Abbreviations

paresaj: para-, Adj.: other, different. Gen.Pl.m. = paresaj (of others).

bhagava: bhagavant-, Adj.m.: partaking of, having a share. The word bhaga-, N.m.: share, with a possessive suffix vant-. Nom.Sg. = bhagava.

samabbassa: samabba-, N.n.: monkshood. An abstract from samana-, N.m.: monk, recluse. Gen.Sg. = samabbassa.

List of Abbreviations

The first segment of this sentence is bahum pi ce sajhitaj bhasamano (even if [he] recites a lot of scriptures). The subject of this sentence is omitted, implying a personal pronoun (which comes in the last clause). The verb is bhasamano (which is the medium present participle in nominative singular). The object is the word sajhitaj (scripture, accusative singular) with its attribute bahum (a lot, accusative singular). There are two particles pi (even) and ce (if).
Next comes the clause na takkaro hoti (he is not a "doer-of-that"). Here the subject is the noun takkaro ("doer-of-that", nominative singular) and the verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense) negated by the negative particle na (not).
The last clause on the first line is naro pamatto (negligent man). We can take this phrase as a separate clause (as we do here). In this case it is a isolated subject naro (man, nominative singular) with its attribute pamatto (negligent, nominative singular). We could also understand it as the subject of the whole sentence.
On the second line we have two more clauses. The first one is gopo va gavo ganayaj paresaj (like a cowherd, counting others' cows). The subject is gopo (cowherd, nominative singular) and as the verb serves the active present participle ganayaj (counting, nominative singular). The object is the word gavo (cows, accusative plural) with its attribute paresaj (others', genitive plural). The particle va (like) connects this clause to the main sentence.
Last part is the sentence na bhagava samabbassa hoti ([he] is not a sharer of the monkshood). As the subject is again implied the pronoun he, meaning the "negligent man" from the first line. The verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense) negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the word bhagava (sharer, "shareholder", nominative singular) with its attribute samabbassa (of monkshood, genitive singular).

Commentary:

The teacher must act according to his own words. A monk, who talks nice, true words, but his acts are not in accordance with them, does not really share the blessings of monk's life. He is like a hireling, doing work for others.
A cowherd is poor, he usually does not have his own cows, and he just takes others' cows out to the pasture. He does not have a real profit out of his actions. In the same sense, the monk who only talks about the Buddha's teachings, but does not put them into practice himself, does not reap the fruit thereof, is just like the cowherd. Thus he neglects his own practice and as we will soon hear in coming verses, the negligence is not a good path to take.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

bahum
pi
ce
sajhitaj
bhasamano
na
takkaro
hoti
naro
pamatto
gopo
va
gavo
ganayaj
paresaj
bhagava
samabbassa