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

List of Abbreviations

# attanaj ce piyaj jabba rakkheyya naj surakkhitaj

# tinnaj abbataraj yamaj patijaggeyya pandito

# (DhP 157)

Sentence Translation:

If someone holds oneself dear, let him guard himself very well.
In any of the three watches of the night let the wise one be watchful.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

attanaj ce piyaj jabba rakkheyya naj surakkhitaj
| | | | | | |
N.m. part. Adj.m. V.act. V.act. Pron.m. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|_______|_____| | | |_______|
| |__________| |__________|
|_______| |
|______________________|

List of Abbreviations

tinnaj abbataraj yamaj patijaggeyya pandito
| | | | |
Num. Adj.m. N.m. V.act. N.m.
Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Nom.Sg.
|_________| | | |
|_____________| | |
|_______________| |
|________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

attanaj: attan-, N.m.: self, oneself. Acc.Sg. = attanaj.

ce, part.: if.

piyaj: piya-, Adj.: dear, beloved, pleasant. Acc.Sg.m. = piyaj.

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

rakkheyya, V.: should protect. The verb root is rakh- (to protect). 3.Sg.act.opt. = rakkheyya.

naj: ena-, pron. In Pali used only in Acc.Sg.m.: naj (him).

surakkhitaj: surakkhita-, Adj.: well guarded, protected. It is the word rakkhita-, Adj.: protected (the verb root is rakh-, to protect) with the prefix su- (well, good). Acc.Sg.m. = surakkhitaj.

List of Abbreviations

tinnaj: ti-, Num.: three. Gen.Pl. = tinnaj.

abbataraj: abbatara-, Pron./Adj.: one of a number, any. Acc.Sg.m. = abbataraj.

yamaj: yama-, N.m.: a watch of the night, an old Indian measure of time. There are three watches during the night. Acc.Sg. = yamaj.

patijaggeyya, V.: should watch over, look after, be watchful. The verb root is jagg- (to watch, to be awake) with the prefix pati- (to, at). 3.Sg.act.opt. = patijaggeyya.

pandito: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = pandito.

List of Abbreviations

This sentence consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) attanaj ce piyaj jabba rakkheyya naj surakkhitaj (if someone holds oneself dear, let him guard himself very well). This can be further analysed into two segments:
a) attanaj ce piyaj jabba (if someone holds oneself dear). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is jabba (should know, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun attanaj (oneself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective piyaj (dear, accusative singular). The sentence is modified by the particle ce (if) which connects it to the other segment.
b) rakkheyya naj surakkhitaj (let him guard himself very well). Again, the subject is omitted and the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is rakkheyya (should guard, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the pronoun naj (it, him; accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective surakkhitaj (well-guarded, accusative singular).
2) tinnaj abbataraj yamaj patijaggeyya pandito (in any of the three watches of the night let the wise one be watchful). The subject is the noun pandito (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is patijaggeyya (should be watchful, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun yamaj (watch of the night, accusative singular). This word in has the adjective abbataraj (any, accusative singular) as an attribute. And the numeral tinnaj (of three, genitive plural) forms an attribute to this word.

Commentary:

There was a prince named Bodhiraja. He had built a new palace and invited the Buddha with monks for alms offering. Because the prince had no children, he spread some pieces of cloth on the floor and made a wish that if the Buddha stepped on the cloth, he and his wife would be able to have children.
When the Buddha came, he asked Bodhiraja to remove the cloth. He told him he and his wife could not have children because of evil deeds they committed in the past. The Buddha then related the story to the prince.
He and his wife had been the only survivors of a shipwreck in one of their past existences. They were stranded on an island and ate the birds. They also ate their eggs and small fledglings. They did not even feel a slightest remorse for killing some other living creatures' babies. Because of that, they would not able to have any children in this life.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attanaj
ce
piyaj
jabba
rakkheyya
naj
surakkhitaj
tinnaj
abbataraj
yamaj
patijaggeyya
pandito