Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# na pupphagandho pativatam eti na candanaj tagaramallika va

# sataj ca gandho pativatam eti sabba disa sappuriso pavayati

# (DhP 54)

Sentence Translation:

The scent of flowers, sandal, tagara or jasmine does not go against the wind.
The scent of true ones goes against the wind. The true person pervades all directions.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na puppha+gandho pati+vatam eti na candanaj tagara+mallika va
| | | | | | | | | | |
neg. N.n. N.m. ind. Adv. V.act.in. neg. N.n. N.n. N.f. conj.
| | Nom.Sg. |____| 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. |
| |______| | | | | |______| |
| | |_________| | |__________|_________|
| |________________| |___________|
|_________________| |
|_________________________________|_____________________________

List of Abbreviations

sataj ca gandho pati+vatam eti sabba disa sap+puriso pavayati
| | | | | | | | | | |
Adj.m. conj. N.m. ind. Adv. V.act.in. Adj.f. N.f. Adj. N.m. V.act.in.
Gen.Pl. | Nom.Sg. |____| 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|________|______| |________| |_______| |____| |
|____________________| | |___________|
| |_______________|
_______________|___________________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

pupphagandho: pupphagandha-, N.m.: the scent of a flower. It is a compound of:
puppha-, N.n.: flower.
gandha-, N.m.: scent.
Nom.Sg. = pupphagandho.

pativatam, Adv.: against the wind. It is a compound of:
pati-, pref.ind.: against.
vata-, N.m.: wind.
As an Adv.: pativatam.

List of Abbreviations

eti: goes. The verb root is i- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres = eti.

na: see above.

candanaj: candana-, N.n.: sandal. Nom.Sg. = candanaj.

tagaramallika: tagaramallika-, N.f.:
tagara-, N.n: the incense obtained from a kind of shrub
(in Latin: Tabernaemontana coronaria).
mallika-, N.f.: jasmine.
Nom.Sg. = tagaramallika.

List of Abbreviations

va, conj.: or.

sataj: sant-, Adj.: real, good, true. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Thus sant- means literally means "existing", "being". Gen.Pl. = sataj.

ca, conj.: and.

gandho: gandha-, N.m.: scent. Nom.Sg. = gandho.

pativatam: see above.

eti: see above.

List of Abbreviations

sabba: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Acc.Pl.f. = sabba.

disa: disa-, N.f: direction. Acc.Pl. = disa.

sappuriso: sappurisa-, N.m.: a true person. It is a compound of:
sat-, Adj.: true, good, real. This is a compound form of the word sant- (see above).
purisa-, N.m.: person.
Euphonic combination: sat + purisa = sappurisa.
Nom.Sg. = sappuriso.

pavayati, V.: to pervade, to blow forth, to emit (scent). The verb root is va- (to blow) with the prefix pa- (strengthening, "forth"). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pavayati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse forms four syntactically separated sentences. They are:
1) na pupphagandho pativatam eti (the scent of flowers does not go against the wind). The subject of this sentence is the noun pupphagandho (scent of flowers, nominative singular). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense), which is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb pativatam (against the wind).
2) na candanaj tagaramallika va (nor [does] tagara or jasmine). There are two subjects in this sentence, candanaj (sandal, nominative singular) and tagaramallika (tagara and jasmine, nominative singular). They are connected by the conjunction va (or). There is a negative particle na (not) in this sentence, which negates the verb eti (goes) from the previous sentence. In this sentence the verb is omitted.
3) sataj ca gandho pativatam eti (the scent of true ones goes against the wind). The subject here is the noun gandho (smell, nominative singular) with an attribute, the adjective sataj (of the true ones, genitive plural). The verb is eti (goes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense) with an attribute, the adverb pativatam (against the wind). The conjunction ca (and) connects this sentence to the two previous ones.
4) sabba disa sappuriso pavayati (the true person pervades all directions). The subject is the noun sappuriso (true person, nominative singular). The verb is pavayati (pervades, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun disa (directions, accusative plural) with the adjective sabba (all, accusative plural) as an attribute.

Commentary:

Venerable Ananda was once sitting in meditation and he was pondering the problem of scent. All the known scents - perfumes, flowers, roots etc. go only with the wind. No scent can go against the wind. Is there any scent at all that can go against the wind?
He asked the Buddha about it. The Buddha said that there exists such thing. A person, who takes refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, observes the moral precepts and is generous, is really worthy of praise. The "scent", or the reputation, of such a person spreads far and wide, with the wind and against it. Such a person is famous everywhere and people praise him.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
pupphagandho
puppha
gandho
pativatam
pati
vatam
eti
candanaj
tagaramallika
tagara
mallika
va
sataj
ca
sabba
disa
sappuriso
pavayati