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

List of Abbreviations

# sududdasaj sunipunaj yatthakamanipatinaj

# cittaj rakkhetha medhavi cittaj guttaj sukh'avahaj

# (DhP 36)

Sentence Translation:

O Wise Ones, you should protect the mind, which is very difficult to see, very subtle
and jumping at whatever it desires. Protected mind brings happiness.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sududdasaj sunipunaj yattha+kama+nipatinaj
| | | | |
Adj.n. Adj.n. Rel.Adv. N.m. Adj.n.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. |_____| Acc.Sg.
| | |__________|
|____________|________________|
|_____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

cittaj rakkhetha medhavi cittaj guttaj sukha+avahaj
| | | | | | |
N.n. V.act. N.m. N.n. Adj.n. N.m. Adj.n.
Acc.Sg. 2.Pl.opt. Voc.Pl. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
__| |________| |________| |_____|
|_____________| |____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

sududdasaj: sududdasa-, Adj.: very difficult to see. The word duddasa-, Adj. difficult to see with the prefix su-. This prefix usually means "well", "good" etc., but here it further strengthens the adjective. The word duddasa- itself is derived from the verb root das- (to see) with the prefix du- (bad, difficult). Acc.Sg.n. = sududdasaj.

sunipunaj: sunipuna-, Adj.: very subtle. The word nipuna-, Adj.: subtle, fine, with the prefix su- (well, very; strengthening prefix). Acc.Sg.n. = sunipunaj.

List of Abbreviations

yatthakamanipatinaj: yatthakamanipatin-, Adj: jumping at whatever it desires. It is a complex compound of:
yatthakamaj, Adv.: according to one's desire. The disappearance of the final -j is
only an omission, perhaps due to the metrical requirements. It can be further analyzed as:
yattha, Rel.Adv.: where.
kama-, N.m.: desire, pleasure.
nipatin-, Adj.: falling down, chancing upon. It is derived (by the way of adding
the possessive suffix -in) from the verb root pat- (fall) with the prefix ni- (down).
Acc.Sg.n. = yatthakamanipatinaj.

cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaj.

List of Abbreviations

rakkhetha, V.: should protect. The verb root rakkh-. 2.Pl.act.imp. = rakkhetha.

medhavi: medhavin-, N.m.: intelligent person, wise one. Voc.Pl. = medhavi.

cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind (see also above). Nom.Sg. = cittaj.

guttaj: gutta-, Adj.: protected. It is a p.p. of the verb root gup- (to protect).
Nom.Sg.n. = guttaj.

sukh'avahaj: sukh'avaha-, Adj.: bringing happiness. A compound of:
sukha-, N.n.: happiness.
a vaha-, Adj.: bringing, causing. Derived from the verb root vah- (to carry) with
the prefix a- (towards, to).
Nom.Sg.n. = sukh'avahaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two grammatically separated sentences. One is: sududdasaj sunipunaj yatthakamanipatinaj cittaj rakkhetha medhavi (o Wise Ones, you should protect the mind, which is very difficult to see, very subtle and jumping at whatever it desires). Here the subject is the word medhavi (o Wise Ones, vocative plural). The verb is rakkhetha (you should protect, 2nd person plural, active, optative). The object is cittaj (mind, accusative singular) with three attributes: 1) sududdasaj (very difficult to see), 2) sunipunaj (very subtle), 3) yatthakamanipatinaj (jumping at whatever it desires). They all have to agree with the object and are therefore in accusative singular.
The second sentence is cittaj guttaj sukh'avahaj (restrained mind brings happiness). Here the subject is the word cittaj (mind, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle guttaj (protected, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, the verb "to be" again being implied. The word sukh'avahaj (happiness-bringing, nominative singular) forms an attribute to this verb.

Commentary:

Once in the city of Savatthi, there lived a son of a banker. He asked a monk who came to his house for alms food, how to be liberated from the ills of life. The monk instructed him to divide his property into three parts. One he was to do business with, one to support his family, one for charity. The man did so and then asked what to do next. He was instructed to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and to observe five precepts. But the man was still not satisfied. So the monk told him to renounce the world and to become a monk too.
As a monk he was taught Dharma by one teacher and Vinaya by another. Thus he felt that there was too much to learn, the rules were too strict and there was no freedom. He wanted to return to lay life. He began to have doubts, was discontent and unhappy, neglected his meditation. The Buddha told him that if he only could control his mind, he had nothing else to control. Then he told him this verse. The monk attained arahantship.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

sududdasaj
sunipunaj
yatthakamanipatinaj
yatthakama
nipatinaj
cittaj
rakkhetha
medhavi
guttaj
sukh'avahaj
sukha
avahaj