"Not with a wholesome root of inferior measure do beings arrive in the Buddhaland of Limitless Life Thus Come One." Sakyamuni Buddha continues to answer the question he himself raised of why beings should make the vow to be born in the Buddhaland of Amitibha Buddha, also called the Buddha Amitayu "Limitless Life." The following words were already explained in VBS #129, page 21: sariputra amitayusas, tathagatasya, buddhaksetre, sattva. In this lesson the final -a of kusalamulena "wholesome root" combines with the initial a- of amitayusas to make one long a although they are two separate words--a regular feature of external sandhi, for which previous lessons may be consulted. There is a similar combining of the final -a of na "not" and the initial a- of avaramatrakena "of inferior measure." The phrase "not with a wholesome root of inferior measure" is expressed by two compound words in Sanskrit which occur in the instrumental case negated by the indeclinable word na. The instrrumental case conveys the meaning "with, by, because of, due to, by means of." The noun in the phrase is kusalmulena, composed of the adjective kusala "wholesome/good" and the noun mula "root," which is neuter in gender. That kind of compoundd is called a descriptive compound, because the first word describes the second. It is modified by the compound adjective avaramatrarka "of inferior measure." The adjectival suffix -ka expresses English "of". Avara is the adjective meaning "inferior/low/ mean." Again, this is a descriptive compound, for avara describes the noun in the compound:- matra "measure/quantity/size/number/degree." It is feminine in isolation, but appears with a final -a in the compound, and the adjective as a whole agrees with the noun it modifies and so is neuter singular. Upapadyante is the finite form of the verb that occured in its participial form in VBS #129: upapanna(s/h). Its subject is sattva(s) "being" and it means "do arrive." The form is third person plural present indicative middle. The meaning of the sentence is that if living beings do not have a great many good roots-- if their root of goodness is not well-developed --they simply will not be able to reach the land of Amitabha Buddha. Therefore, to be born there means one has great good roots.