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

List of Abbreviations

# yo ca vassasataj jantu aggij paricare vane

# ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye

# sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassasataj hutaj

# (DhP 107)

Sentence Translation:

Whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years,
and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself,
then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo ca vassa+sataj jantu aggij paricare vane
| | | | | | | |
Rel.Pron. conj. N.n. Num.n. N.m. N.m. V.act. N.n.
Nom.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Loc.Sg.
|_________| |_____| | | |_______|
|_____________|_________| | |
| |____________|___________|
| |_______|
|____________|
|____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

ekaj ca bhavita+attanaj muhuttam api pujaye
| | | | | | |
Num.m. conj. Adj. N.m. N.m. part. V.act.
Acc.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt.
| | |______| |______| |
|_________|_______| |_________|
|______________________|
_______________________|
|__________________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassa+sataj hutaj
| | | | | | | | |
Pron.f. part. N.f. Adj.n. Rel.Pron.n. part. N.n. Num.n. Adj.n.
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|________|_____| | |______| |_____| |
|___| | | |__________|
|_______________| |_______________|
|___________________________|
___________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

ca, conj.: and.

vassasataj: vassasata-, N.n.: hundred years, century. It is a compound of:
vassa-, N.n.: year.
sata-, Num.n.: hundred.
Nom.Sg. = vassasataj.

jantu: jantu-, N.m.: creature, living being, person. Nom.Sg. = jantu.

aggij: aggi-, N.m.: fire. Acc.Sg. = aggij.

paricare, V.: to worship (fire). Literally: to tend to, to look after. The verb root is car- (to walk, to move, with the prefix pari- (around). 3.Sg.act.opt. = paricare.

vane: vana-, N.n.: forest. Loc.Sg. = vane.

List of Abbreviations

ekaj: eka-, Num.: one. Acc.Sg.m. = ekaj.

ca, conj.: and.

bhavit'attanaj: bhavit'attan-, Adj.: having developed oneself. It is a compound of:
bhavita-, Adj.: developed. It is a p.p. of the verb bhaveti (to develop, to meditate).
attan-, N.m.: self, oneself.
Euphonic combination: bhavita- + attan- = bhavit'attan-.
Acc.Sg.m. = bhavit'attanaj.

muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.

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

pujaye, V.: should worship, should pay respects to. The verb root is puj- (to worship).
3.Sg.act.opt. = pujaye.

sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.f. = sa.

List of Abbreviations

yeva, part.: just, only. It is more often spelled as eva.

pujana: pujana-, N.f.: worship, devotion. It is derived from the verb root puj- (to worship).
Nom.Sg. = pujana.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

yaj: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Nom.Sg.n. = yaj.

ce, part.: if.

vassasataj: vassasata-, N.n.: see above. Nom.Sg. = vassasataj.

hutaj: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). Nom.Sg.n. = hutaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two sentences. They are:
1) yo ca vassasataj jantu aggij paricare vane ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye (whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years, and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). This can be further subdivided into two segments:
a) yo ca vassasataj jantu aggij paricare vane (whatever person should worship fire in the forest for hundred years). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (whoever, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun jantu (being, nominative singular). The verb is paricare (should worship, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has two attributes, the compound vassasataj (for a century, accusative singular) and the noun vane (in the forest, locative singular). The object is the noun aggij (fire, accusative singular). The conjunction ca (and) serves only for metrical purposes.
b) ekaj ca bhavit'attanaj muhuttam api pujaye (and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). The subject is still the word yo from the previous sentence. The object is the compound bhavit'attanaj (one who has developd himself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the numeral ekaj (one, accusative singular). The verb is pujaye (should pay respects, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the word muhuttam (for a moment, accusative singular) with its attribute, the particle api (also, just). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes, but it also connects this sentence to the previous one.
2) sa yeva pujana seyyo yaj ce vassasataj hutaj (then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
a) sa yeva pujana seyyo (such a devotion is better). The subject is double, the pronoun sa (she, nominative singular) and pujana (devotion, nominative singular). They are stressed by the particle yeva (just). The adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular) is an object of this sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
b) yaj ce vassasataj hutaj (than hundred years of sacrifice). The subject is the compound vassasataj (century, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle hutaj (sacrificed, nominative singular). The relative pronoun yaj (that, what; nominative singular) and the particle ce (if) form two parts of the phrase yaj ce (than). The verb is again omitted, as above implying the verb "to be".

Commentary:

Venerable Sariputta once asked his cousin if he was following any beneficial religious practices. His cousin told him that he sacrifices one goat every month in the fire and thus he will reach a heavenly world in his next existence. Sariputta explained to him, that this was not the way to the heavenly world and took him to see the Buddha.
The Buddha taught him the Dharma and further explained to him that to pay respects to an Arahant is far better than to sacrifice to the fire for hundred years.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
ca
vassasataj
vassa
sataj
jantu
aggij
paricare
vane
ekaj
bhavit'attanaj
bhavita
attanaj
muhuttam
api
pujaye
sa
yeva
pujana
seyyo
yaj
ce
hutaj