Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# yan'imani apatthani alabun'eva sarade

# kapotakani atthini tani disvana ka rati

# (DhP 149)

Sentence Translation:

Those gray bones, thrown away like pumpkins in fall.
Seeing them, what love can there be?

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yani imani apatthani alabuni eva sarade
| | | | | |
Rel.Pron.n. Pron.n. Adj.n. N.n. part. Adj.m.
Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Loc.Sg.
| | | |_____|____|
| | | |__|
| | |___________|__________________________I.
| |____________| |
| |____________|
|________________________|
|_____________________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

kapotakani atthini tani disvana ka rati
| | | | | |
Adj.n. N.n. Pron.n. V.ger. Pron.f. N.f.
Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. Acc.Pl. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|____________| |______| |_______|
I._____| |_____________|
II.___________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yani: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Pl.n. = yani.

imani: idaj-, Pron.: this. Nom.Pl.n. = imani.
Euphonic combination: yani + imani = yan'imani.

apatthani: apattha-, Adj.: thrown away. It is a p.p. of the verb root as- (to throw) with the prefix apa- (away). Nom.Pl.n. = apatthani.

alabuni: alabu-, N.n.: gourd, pumpkin (long and white). Nom.Pl. = alabuni.

eva, part.: just, only.
Euphonic combination alabuni + eva = alabun'eva.

sarade: sarada-, Adj.: autumnal. Here probably we should read sarade: sarada-, N.m.: fall, autumn. Loc.Sg. = sarade.

List of Abbreviations

kapotakani: kapotaka-, Adj.: gray. Lit. "dove-colored" from kapota-, N.m.: dove.
Nom.Pl.n. = kapotakani.

atthini: atthi-, N.n.: bone. Nom.Pl. = atthini.

tani: tat-, Pron.: that. Acc.Pl.n. = tani.

disvana, V.: having seen. It is a ger. from the verb dis-, to see.

ka: kim-, Inter.Pron.: who. Nom.Sg.f. = ka.

rati: rati-, N.f.: love, attachment, liking for. Nom.Sg. = rati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two dependent sentences. They are:
1) yan'imani apatthani alabun'eva sarade kapotakani atthini (those gray bones, thrown away like pumpkins in fall). The subject is the noun atthini (bones, nominative plural). It has three attributes, the adjective kapotakani (gray, nominative plural), the past participle apatthani (thrown away, nominative plural) and the pronoun imani (these, nominative plural). It also has a dependent clause, alabun'eva sarade (like pumpkins in fall). Here the subject is the noun alabuni (pumpkins, nominative plural) and the adjective/noun sarade (in fall, locative singular) is the attribute. The particle eva (just [like]) connects the clause to the subject of the main sentence. The relative adverb yani (those, which; nominative plural) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following one.
2) tani disvana ka rati (seeing them, what love can there be?). This can be further analysed into two parts:
a) tani disvana (having seen those). The noun tani (those, accusative plural) is the object in this sentence. The verb is in gerund form, disvana (having seen).
b) ka rati (what love [can there be]). The subject is the noun rati (love, nominative singular). The interrogative pronoun ka (what, nominative singular) forms it attribute.

Commentary:

A group of monks once went to the forest to practice meditation. They were very diligent and very soon they attained very deep mental absorption (jhana). They mistook this attainment for the Arahantship. Happily they returned to the Buddha and intended to tell him about their achievements.
When they were about to approach, the Buddha asked Venerable Ananda to send them to the cemetery first. Buddha knew about their mistaking jhana for Awakenment and had an idea how to make them realize this mistake.
The monks went to the cemetery and saw different corpses there. When they saw old decaying bodies and bones, they were able to perceive them with equanimity. But when they saw some fresh corpses, they realized they still had some sensual desires left in them! The Buddha exhorted them with this verse. The monks finally understood how little had they achieved so far.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yani
imani
apatthani
alabuni
eva
sarade
kapotakani
atthini
tani
disvana
ka
rati