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

List of Abbreviations

# anekajatisajsaraj sandhavissaj anibbisaj

# gahakarakaj gavesanto dukkha jati punappunaj

# (DhP 153)

Sentence Translation:

Through many rounds of rebirth have I ran, looking for the house-builder,
but not finding him. Painful is repeated rebirth.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

aneka+jati+sajsaraj sandhavissaj anibbisaj
| | | | |
Adj. N.f. N.m. V.act. Adj.m.
| | Acc.Sg. 1.Sg.aor. Nom.Sg.
| |______| | |_____________________
|__________| |
|_________________|

List of Abbreviations

gaha+karakaj gavesanto dukkha jati punappunaj
| | | | | |
N.m. N.m. Adj.m. Adj.f. N.f. Adv.
| Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
|_______| | | |______|
|___________| |___________|
_________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

anekajatisajsaraj: anekajatisajsara-, N.m.: many rounds of rebirths. It is a compound of:
aneka-, Adj.: not one, many. It is the word eka-, Num.: one negated by the negative prefix an- (not).
jatisajsara-, N.m.: cycle of rebirths, round of births. This can be further analysed into:
jati-, N.f.: birth, rebirth.
sajsara-, N.m.: perpetual wandering, round of rebirth. It is derived from the verb root sar- (to flow, to move along) with the prefix saj- (together). Thus sajsarati = to move about continuously.
Acc.Sg. = anekajatisajsaraj.

sandhavissaj, V.: I ran through. The verb root is dhav- (to run) with the prefix sam- (together). 1.Sg.act.aor. = sandhavissaj.

anibbisaj: anibbisant-, Adj.: not finding. It is the word nibbisant-, Adj.: finding (this word is an a.pr.p. of the verb vis-, to enter, with the prefix ni-, into), negated by the negative prefix a-.
Nom.Sg.m. = anibbisaj.

List of Abbreviations

gahakarakaj: gahakaraka-, N.m.: house-builder, house-maker. It is a metaphor for thirst or craving that is the maker of the "house", or in other words of the living being. It is a compound of:
gaha-, N.m.: house.
karaka-, N.m.: doer, maker. It is derived from the verb kar-, to do.
Acc.Sg. = gahakarakaj.

gavesanto: gavesant-, Adj.: seeking, looking for. It is an a.pr.p.of the verb gavesati. Originally it is a compound of the noun gava-, N.m. (the compound form of the word go-, N.m.: cow) and the verb root is- (to seek).
Nom.Sg.m. = gavesanto.

dukkha: dukkha-, Adj.: unpleasant, painful, difficult. Nom.Sg.f. = dukkha.

jati: jati-, N.f.: birth, rebirth. Nom.Sg. = jati.

punappunaj, Adv.: again and again. It is the word puna, Ind.: again, doubled in intensifying sense. The double -p- is a result of the euphonic combination.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) anekajatisajsaraj sandhavissaj (through many rounds of rebirth have I ran). The subject is omitted; the first person pronoun is implied. The verb is sandhavissaj (I ran, 1st person, singular, active, aorist). The object is the compound anekajatisajsaraj (many rounds of rebirth, accusative singular).
2) anibbisaj gahakarakaj gavesanto (looking for the house-builder, but not finding him). Again, the subject is the omitted first person pronoun. It has two attributes, the active present participles anibbisaj (not finding, nominative singular) and gavesanto ( looking for, nominative singular). The object is the compound gahakarakaj (house builder, accusative singular).
3) dukkha jati punappunaj (painful is repeated rebirth). The subject is the noun jati (rebirth, nominative singular). It has the adverb punappunaj (again and again) as an attribute. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective dukkha (painful, nominative singular).

Commentary:

This verse and the following one (DhP 154) are the first utterances of Prince Siddhattha Gotama, after he reached the supreme Awakenment, seating under the Tree of Awakenment. From that time on he was known as the Buddha. He finally comprehended what was the reason for suffering in the round of repeated rebirths - the craving that causes us to run in it over and over again. He formulated his teaching, summarized in the Four Noble Truths and became the founder of what is today known as Buddhism.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

anekajatisajsaraj
aneka
jati
sajsaraj
sandhavissaj
anibbisaj
gahakarakaj
gaha
karakaj
gavesanto
dukkha
punappunaj
puna