Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
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.
attanaj
ce piyaj
jabba rakkheyya naj
surakkhitaj
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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.
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List of Abbreviations
tinnaj
abbataraj yamaj
patijaggeyya pandito
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Num. Adj.m.
N.m. V.act.
N.m.
Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
3.Sg.opt. Nom.Sg.
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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.
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.
Word pronunciation:
attanaj
ce
piyaj
jabba
rakkheyya
naj
surakkhitaj
tinnaj
abbataraj
yamaj
patijaggeyya
pandito