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

List of Abbreviations

# pubbenivasaj yo vedi saggapayaj ca passati

# atho jatikkhayaj patto abhibbavosito muni

# sabbavositavosanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj

# (DhP 423)

Sentence Translation:

Who knows his former births and sees both heaven and hell,
who has reached the end of rebirths, the sage who has attained higher wisdom,
one who has attained all accomplishments - him do I call a Brahmin.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

pubbe+nivasaj yo vedi sagga+apayaj ca passati
| | | | | | | |
Adj. N.m. Rel.Pron.m. V.act. N.m. N.m. conj. V.act.in.
| Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.aor. | Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|_________| | | |______| | |
|____________|_________| |_______|______|
| | |____|
| |__________________|____________________I.
|_______________|
|____________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

atho jati+kkhayaj patto abhibba+vosito muni
| | | | | | |
part. N.f. N.m. Adj.m. N.f. Adj.m. N.m.
| | Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| |______| | |______| |
| |_________| | |
|______________| | |
I.______|____________________|__________|
II.________________|

List of Abbreviations

sabba+vosita+vosanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj
| | | | | | |
Adj. Adj. Adj.m. Pron.m. Pron. V.act.in. N.m.
|_______| Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|___________| | | | |
|____________| | | |
|____________|________|_______|
| |____|
|______|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

pubbenivasaj: pubbenivasa-, N.m.: previous lives. It is a compound of:
pubba-, Adj.: previous, former. The compound form: pubbe (actually a locative singular form of pubba-).
nivasa-, N.m.: abode, living. It is derived from thbe verb root vas- (to dwell) with the prefix ni- (down).
Acc.Sg. = pubbenivasaj.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

vedi, V.: understood, knows. The verb root is vid- (to know). 3.Sg.act.aor. = vedi.

List of Abbreviations

saggapayaj: saggapaya-, N.m.: heaven and hell. It is a compound of:
sagga-, N.m.: heaven.
apaya-, N.m.: a bad birth, hell. Lit. separation, loss. It is derived from the verb i-, to go, preceded by the prefix apa- (away from).
Euphonic combination: sagga- + apaya- = saggapaya-.
Acc.Sg. = saggapayaj.

ca, conj.: and.

passati: sees. The verb root is dis- (to see). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = passati.

atho, part.: and, also, further.

jatikkhayaj: jatikkhaya-, N.m.: end of rebirths. It is a compound of:
jati-, N.f.: birth, rebirth.
khaya-, N.m.: destruction, dissolution, end.
Acc.Sg. = jatikkhayaj.

List of Abbreviations

patto: patta-, Adj.: reached, attained. It is a p.p. of the verb root ap- (to get, to obtain) with the intensifying prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = patto.

abhibbavosito: abhibbavosita-, Adj.: who has attained higher wisdom. It is a compound of:
abhibba-, N.f.: higher wisdom. It is derived from the verb root ba- (to know) with the prefix abhi- (over).
vosita-, Adj.: attained, accomplished. It is the p.p. of the verb root sa- (to bind) with the prexix ava-/o- (down).
Nom.Sg. = abhibbavosito.

muni: muni-, N.m.: sage, a wise man (originally one who keeps the vow of silence). Nom.Sg. = muni. The form muni is sometimes used in poetry.

List of Abbreviations

sabbavositavosanaj: sabbavositavosana-, Adj.: who has attained all accomplishments. It is a compound of:
sabba-, Adj.: all.
vosita-, Adj.: attained, accomplished. It is the p.p. of the verb root sa- (to bind) with the prexix ava-/o- (down).
vosana-, N.n.: achievement, accomplishment. It is derived the same way as the word vosita- just above.
Acc.Sg.m. = sabbavositavosanaj.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaj, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaj.

brumi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is bru-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brumi.

brahmanaj: brahmana-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brahmanaj.

List of Abbreviations

This sentence consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) pubbenivasaj yo vedi saggapayaj ca passati atho jatikkhayaj patto abhibbavosito muni (who knows his former births and sees both heaven and hell, who has reached the end of rebirths, the sage who has attained higher wisdom). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). There are actually five segments in this sentence which all share this pronoun as the subject:
a) pubbenivasaj vedi (who knows his former births). The verb is vedi (knows, 3rd person, singular, active, aorist). The object is the compound pubbenivasaj (former births, accusative singular).
b) saggapayaj ca passati (and sees both heaven and hell). The verb is passati (sees, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound saggapayaj (heaven and hell, accusative singular). The segment is connected to the previous one by the conjunction ca (and).
c) atho jatikkhayaj patto (who has reached the end of rebirths). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the past participle patto (has reached, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound jatikkhayaj (end of rebirths, accusative singular). The segment is introduced by the particle atho (further).
d) abhibbavosito (who has attained higher wisdom). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the compound abhibbavosito (who has attained higher wisdom, nominative singular).
e) muni (sage). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the noun muni (sage, nominative singular).
2) sabbavositavosanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj (one who has attained all accomplishments - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject of this sentence is the pronoun ahaj (I, nominative singular). The verb is brumi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brahmanaj (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has two attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the compound sabbavositavosanaj (one who has attained all accomplishments, accusative singular).

Commentary:

The Buddha once suffered from some illness and asked a layman named Devahita for some water. Devahita was pleased and also sent some molasses. The Buddha had taken a bath and ate he molasses and felt better.
Devahita then came to visit the Buddha to ask an offering made to whom gives more benefit. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that the offering made to one who has given up all evil gives the most benefit.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pubbenivasaj
pubbe
nivasaj
yo
vedi
saggapayaj
sagga
apayaj
ca
passati
atho
jatikkhayaj
jati
khayaj
patto
abhibbavosito
abhibba
vosito
muni
sabbavositavosanaj
sabba
vosita
vosanaj
tam
ahaj
brumi
brahmanaj