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

List of Abbreviations

# yesaj sannicayo n'atthi ye paribbatabhojana

# subbato animitto ca vimokkho yesaj gocaro

# akase va sakuntanaj gati tesaj durannaya

# (DhP 92)

Sentence Translation:

Those, who do not accumulate and have well understood food,
whose sphere is the void emancipation without attributes -
their course is difficult to find out - like the course of the birds in the sky.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yesaj sannicayo na atthi ye paribbata+bhojana
| | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. N.m. neg. V.act.in. Rel.Pron.m. Adj. Adj.m.
Gen.Pl. Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Pl. | Nom.Pl.
|_____________| |_____| | |______|
|______________| |___________|
|__________________________|________________________

List of Abbreviations

subbato animitto ca vimokkho yesaj gocaro
| | | | | |
Adj.m. Adj.m. conj. N.m. Rel.Pron.m. N.m.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl. Nom.Sg.
|__________| | | |________|
|___________| | |
|___________| |
|___________________|
__________________________|
|____________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

akase va sakuntanaj gati tesaj durannaya
| | | | | |
N.m. part. N.m. N.f. Pron.m. Adj.f.
Loc.Sg. | Gen.Pl. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl. Nom.Sg.
|________|_____| |_______| |
|___| |___________|
|_______________________|
__________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

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

sannicayo: sannicaya-, N.m.: accumulation, hoarding. It is derived from the verb root ci- (to heap) with the prefixes ni- (down) and sam- (together). Nom.Sg. = sannicayo.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = n'atthi.

ye: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

List of Abbreviations

paribbatabhojana: paribbatabhojana-, Adj.: having well understood food, ie. having understood that food is to be eaten not for pleasure, but only for sustaining the body in a good condition.
It is a compound of:
paribbata-, Adj.: well understood. It is a p.p. of the verb root ba- (to know) with the
prefix pari- (completely, all around).
bhojana-, N.n.: food, meal.
Nom.Pl.m. = paribbatabhojana.

subbato: subbata-, Adj.: void, empty. Nom.Sg.m. = subbato.

animitto: animitta-, Adj.: without attributes. It is the word nimitta-, N.n.: mark, attribute, characteristic, negated by the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m. = animitto.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

vimokkho: vimokkha-, N.m.: emancipation, freedom, release. It is derived from the verb root muc- (to release) with the prefix vi- (separation). Nom.Sg. = vimokkho.

yesaj: see above.

gocaro: gocara-, N.m.: pasture, sphere. A compound of:
go-, N.m.: cow
cara-, N.m.: going, walking. It is derived from the verb car- (to walk, to roam).
Nom.Sg. = gocaro.

akase: akasa-, N.m.: air, sky, space. Loc.Sg. = akase.

List of Abbreviations

va, part.: as, like.

sakuntanaj: sakunta-, N.m.: bird. Gen.Pl. = sakuntanaj.

gati: gati-, N.f.: direction, course. It is derived from the verb gam- (to go). Nom.Sg. = gati.

tesaj: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Pl.m. = tesaj.

durannaya: durannaya-, Adj.: hard to find out. It is the word annaya- (or anvaya-), Adj.: logical conclusion, with the prefix dur- (difficult). Nom.Sg.f. = durannaya.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two paratactic sentences. They are:
1) yesaj sannicayo n'atthi ye paribbatabhojana subbato animitto ca vimokkho yesaj gocaro (those, who do not accumulate and have well understood food, whose sphere is the void emancipation without attributes). This can be further subdivided into three parts:
a) yesaj sannicayo n'atthi (those, who do not accumulate). The subject is the word sannicayo (accumulation, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the relative pronoun yesaj (whose, genitive plural). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not).
b) ye paribbatabhojana (those, who have well understood food). The subject is the relative pronoun ye (who, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the compound paribbatabhojana (having well understood food, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
c) subbato animitto ca vimokkho yesaj gocaro (whose sphere is the void emancipation without attributes). The subject is the noun gocaro (sphere, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the relative pronoun yesaj (whose, genitive plural). The object is the noun vimokkho (emancipation, nominative singular). It has two attributes, adjectives subbato (empty, void; nominative singular) and animitto (without attributes, nominative singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and).
2) akase va sakuntanaj gati tesaj durannaya (their course is difficult to find out - like the course of the birds in the sky). The subject is the noun gati (course, path; nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun tesaj (their, genitive plural). The object is the adjective durannaya (difficult to find, nominative singular). There is a clause, akase va sakuntanaj (like [the course] of the birds in the sky). The word sakuntanaj (of the birds, genitive plural) forms and attribute to the subject of the main sentence (gati). The noun akase (in the sky) is an attribute to the word sakuntanaj. The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence).

Commentary:

Venerable Belatthi Sisa went on an almsround in a village. When he had enough food, he stopped on the way and ate. Then he continued on his almsround for more food. When he returned to the monastery, he dried the rice up and stored it. In this way he could concentrate only on his practice of meditation. Every day he would soak the rice in some water and eat it. The other monks saw this and thought that he is lazy and greedy. They reported the matter to the Buddha. The Buddha saw that if this practice became a habit amongst all monks, it could lead to laziness and greed and he discouraged the monks from hoarding food.
But because Belatthi Sisa did not store the rice out of greed for food, but only to save time for more meditation practice, the Buddha declared that he should not be blamed in any way.
He also added this verse, saying that the Arahants are not greedy for anything and they take food just to sustain the body in good condition, not for pleasure.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yesaj
sannicayo
na
atthi
ye
paribbatabhojana
paribbata
bhojana
subbato
animitto
ca
vimokkho
gocaro
akase
va
sakuntanaj
gati
tesaj
durannaya