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

List of Abbreviations

# yesaj ca susamaraddha niccaj kayagata sati

# akiccaj te na sevanti kicce sataccakarino

# satanaj sampajananaj atthaj gacchanti asava

# (DhP 293)

Sentence Translation:

Those who have very firm and constant mindfulness as to the body,
those do not practice what should not be done, they are persevering in what should be done.
The taints of those, who are mindful and thoughtful, become extinct.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yesaj ca susamaraddha niccaj kaya+gata sati
| | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. conj. Adj.f. Adv. N.m. Adj.f. N.f.
Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| | | | |_____| |
| | | |________| |
| | |_____________| |
| | |____________________|
|____________|_______________________|
|______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

akiccaj te na sevanti kicce satacca+karino
| | | | | | |
Adj.m. Pron.m. neg. V.act.in. Adj.m. N.n. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. | 3.Pl.pres. Acc.Pl. | Nom.Pl.
| | |______| | |_____|
|_________|________| |________|
|____| |
|__________________________|
___________________|

List of Abbreviations

satanaj sampajananaj atthaj gacchanti asava
| | | | |
Adj.m. Adj.m. N.n. V.act.in. N.m.
Gen.Pl. Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl.
|_____________| |_______| |
|___________________|___________|
|__________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yesaj: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Gen.Pl.m. = yesaj.

ca, conj.: and.

susamaraddha: susamaraddha-, Adj.: very firm, well resolved, thoroughly undertaken . It is a p.p. of the verb rabh- (to take hold of, to grasp) with the prefixes su- (well, good), sam- (altogether, thoroughly) and a- (here as an intensifying prefix). Nom.Sg.f. = susamaraddha.

niccaj, Adv.: perpetually, constantly.

kayagata: kayagata-, Adj.: bodily, as to the body. Lit. "gone to the body". It is a compound of:
kaya-, N.m.: body.
gata-, Adj.: gone. It is a p.p. of the verb root gam- (to go).
Nom.Sg.f. = kayagata.

sati: sati-, N.f.: mindfulness, wakefulness, alertness. Nom.Sg. = sati.

List of Abbreviations

akiccaj: akicca-, Adj.: what should not be done. It is the word kicca-, N.n. (duty, what ought to be done; it is a grd. of the verb kar-, to do), negated by the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.m. = akiccaj.

te: tad-, Pron.: that. Masculine form sa. Nom.Pl. = te.

na, neg.: not.

sevanti, V.: associate with, practice, embrace. The verb root is sev-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = sevanti.

kicce: kicca-, Adj.: must be done, ought to be done. It is a grd. of the verb kar- (to do).
Acc.Pl.m. = kicce.

sataccakarino: sataccakarin-, Adj.: persevering. Lit. doing perseverance. It is a compound of:
satacca-, N.n.: perseverance.
karin-, Adj.m.: acting, doing. Derived from the verb kar- (to do).
Nom.Pl.m. = sataccakarino.

List of Abbreviations

satanaj: sata-, Adj.: mindful, wakeful, alert. It is a p.p. of the verb root sar- (to remember). The word sati- (see above) is also derived from this verb root. Gen.Pl.m. = satanaj.

sampajananaj: sampajana-, Adj.: thoughtful, knowing, understanding. It is derived from the verb ba- (to know) with the prefixes sam- (altogether) and pa- (strengthening). Gen.Pl.m. = sampajananaj.

atthaj: attha-, N.n.: home, place of rest. Acc.Sg. = atthaj.

gacchanti, V.: goes. The verb root is gam-. 3.Pl.in.act.pres. = gacchanti. With the noun atthaj ("home"; as here): disappear, vanish, become extinct.

asava: asava- N.m.: taint, corruption. Nom.Pl. = asava. Traditionally, these four taints (asava) are mentioned in the texts: sense desire (kama), desiring eternal existence (bhava), wrong views (ditthi) and ignorance (avijja).

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) yesaj ca susamaraddha niccaj kayagata sati akiccaj te na sevanti kicce sataccakarino (those who have very firm mindfulness as to the body, those do not practice what should not be done, they are persevering in what should be done). This can be further analysed into two dependent sentences:
a) yesaj ca susamaraddha niccaj kayagata sati (those who have very firm and constant mindfulness as to the body). The subject is the noun sati (mindfulness, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". There are two objects, the adjectives susamaraddha (very firm, nominative singular) and kayagata (bodily, nominative singular). The last of them has its own attribute, the adverb niccaj (constantly). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes. The relative pronoun yesaj (whose, genitive plural) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following one.
b) akiccaj te na sevanti kicce sataccakarino (those do not practice what should not be done, they are persevering in what should be done). This can be analysed into two segments:
I) akiccaj te na sevanti (those do not practice what should not be done). The subject is the pronoun te (they, nominative plural). The verb is sevanti (practice, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective akiccaj (what should not be done, accusative singular).
II) kicce sataccakarino (they are persevering in what should be done). The subject is omitted, implying the pronoun te from the previous segment. It has an attribute, the adjective compound sataccakarino (persevering, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective kicce (what should be done, accusative plural).
2) satanaj sampajananaj atthaj gacchanti asava (the taints of those, who are mindful and thoughtful, become extinct). The subject is the noun asava (taints, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the adjectives satanaj (of the mindful ones, genitive plural) and sampajananaj (of the thoughtful ones, genitive plural). The verb is gacchanti (go, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun atthaj (to rest, accusative plural).

Commentary:

The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 292).
These two verses are reminding us that we should not loose the vision of the final goal. If we spend most of our time trying to make "more and more beautiful slippers", then we have no time to practice in order to reach the goal. Only by diligently putting all of our effort into the practice, by staying mindful all of the time, can we hope to erase our taints and reach the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yesaj
ca
susamaraddha
niccaj
kayagata
kaya
gata
sati
akiccaj
te
na
sevanti
kicce
sataccakarino
satacca
karino
satanaj
sampajananaj
atthaj
gacchanti
asava