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

List of Abbreviations

# vitatanho anadano niruttipadakovido

# akkharanaj sannipataj jabba pubbaparani ca

# sa ve antimasariro mahapabbo mahapuriso ti vuccati

# (DhP 352)

Sentence Translation:

If one who is without thirst, free of attachments and skilled in the language of the scriptures
should know the arrangement of the texts in the right sequence,
he then is known as a great person of great wisdom, living his last life.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

vita+tanho anadano nirutti+pada+kovido
| | | | | |
Adj. Adj.m. Adj.m. N.f. N.n. Adj.m.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |_____| Nom.Sg.
|______| | |________|
|__________|______________|
|______________________________________

List of Abbreviations

akkharanaj sannipataj jabba pubba+aparani ca
| | | | | |
N.n. N.m. V.act. Adj. Adj.n. conj.
Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. | Acc.Pl. |
|______________| | |______| |
|_______________|__________| |
| |______________|
|____________|
______________________________|
|__________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sa ve antima+sariro maha+pabbo maha+puriso ti vuccati
| | | | | | | | | |
Pron.m. part. Adj. Adj.m. Adj. Adj.m. Adj. Adj.m. part. V.pas.in.
Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|________| |_____| |_____| |_____| | |
| |___________|___________| | |
| |______________| |
| |_____________|
|____________________________________________|
__________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

vitatanho: vitatanha-, Adj.: without thirst. Lit. "with the thirst gone". It is a compound of:
vita-, Adj.: gone. It is a p.p. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix vi- (away).
tanha-, N.f.: thirst, craving.
Nom.Sg.m. = vitatanho.

anadano: anadana-, Adj.: free from attachment. It is the word adana-, N.n.: attachment, clinging (this word is derived from the verb da-, to give with the prefix a-, towards; the meaning of the verb is "to take, to grasp") negated by the negative prefix an-. Nom.Sg.m. = anadano.

niruttipadakovido: niruttipadakovida-, Adj.: skilled in the language of the scriptures. It is a compound of:
nirutti-, N.f.: grammar, etymology, pronunciation.
pada-, N.n.: saying, word, verse.
kovida-, Adj.: knowing, possessing the "know-how". It is derived from the word ku, Adv. (how) and the verb root vid- (to know).
Nom.Sg.m. = niruttipadakovido.

List of Abbreviations

akkharanaj: akkhara-, N.n.: sound, tone, word. Gen.Pl. = akkharanaj.

sannipataj: sannipata-, N.m. union, assemblage, collocation. It is derived from the verb root pat- (to fall) with the prefixes sam- (together) and ni- (down). Acc.Sg. = sannipataj.

jabba, V.: should know. The verb root is ba- (to know). 3.Sg.act.opt. = jabba.

pubbaparani: pubbapara-, Adj.: in the right order, what precedes and what follows (with regard to successive order of words in the Scriptures). It is a compound of:
pubba-, Adj.: previous, former.
apara-, Adj.: following, next, another.
Euphonic combination: pubba- + apara- = pubbapara-.
Acc.Pl.n. = pubbaparani.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = sa (the more usual form is so).

ve, part.: indeed.

antimasariro: antimasarira-, Adj.: living his last life, having a last body. It is a compound of:
antima-, Adj.: last, final.
sarira-, N.n.: body, here: life.
Nom.Sg.m. = antimasariro.

List of Abbreviations

mahapabbo: mahapabba-, Adj.: with great wisdom. It is a compound of:
mahant-, Adj.: big, great. The compound form is maha-.
pabba-, N.f.: wisdom
Nom.Sg.m. = mahapabbo.

mahapuriso: mahapurisa-, N.m.: a great person, hero. It is a compound of:
mahant-, Adj.: see above.
purisa-, N.m.: person.
Nom.Sg. = mahapuriso.

ti, part.: a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech. In English this is expressed by quotation marks. Sometimes it is written as iti.

vuccati, V,: is called. It is a passive form of the verb root vac- (to say). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = vuccati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
1) vitatanho anadano niruttipadakovido akkharanaj sannipataj jabba pubbaparani ca (if one who is without thirst, free of attachments and skilled in the language of the scriptures should know the arrangement of the texts in the right sequence). There are three subjects, the adjectives vitatanho (without thirst, nominative singular), anadano (free of attachments, nominative singular) and niruttipadakovido (skilled in the language of the scriptures, nominative singular). The verb is jabba (should know, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). There are two objects, the noun sannipataj (arrangement, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun akkharanaj (of words, genitive plural) and the adjective compound pubbaparani (in the right order, accusative plural). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and).
2) sa ve antimasariro mahapabbo mahapuriso ti vuccati (he then is known as a great person of great wisdom, living his last life). The subject is the pronoun sa (he, nominative singular). It is stressed by the particle ve (indeed). The verb is vuccati (is called, 3rd person, singular, passive, indicative, present tense). There are three objects, the compounds antimasariro (living his last life, nominative singular), mahapabbo (of great wisdom, nominative singular) and mahapuriso (great person, nominative singular). The particle ti (marks the direct speech) connects them to the verb.

Commentary:

The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 351).
At the time of the Buddha, the sacred texts of various religions were not supposed to be written down. It was considered a kind of sacrilege to do that. Writing was reserved only for worldly matters. Therefore it was crucial that the texts were always remembered correctly and without alteration, in order to protect the true words of the teacher without his disciples changing the meaning.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

vitatanho
vita
tanho
anadano
niruttipadakovido
nirutti
pada
kovido
akkharanaj
sannipataj
jabba
pubbaparani
pubba
aparani
ca
sa
ve
antimasariro
antima
sariro
mahapabbo
maha
pabbo
mahapuriso
puriso
ti
vuccati