List of Abbreviations

pamādaṃ appamādena yadā nudati paṇḍito

paññāpāsādam āruyha asoko sokiniṃ pajaṃ

pabbataṭṭho va bhūmaṭṭhe dhīro bāle avekkhati

(DhP 28)



Translation:

When the wise one expels negligence by conscientiousness,
having climbed the stronghold of wisdom, without sorrow,

such a clever one observes the sorrowing crowd

as somebody standing on a mountain observes the foolish people on the ground.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

pamādaṃ a+ppamādena yadā       nudati       paṇḍito
|               |          |             |              |                |

N.m.      neg.    N.m.   Rel.Adv.   V.act.in.      N.m.

Acc.Sg.    |       Ins.Sg.       |        3.Sg.pres.   Nom.Sg.

|               |______|            |              |_________|

|____________|                 |                      |

         |_________________|____________|

                       |_________|

                               |______________________________________________I.

List of Abbreviations

paññā+pāsādam āruyha    a+soko       sokiniṃ    pajaṃ
|                |            |          |      |               |             |

N.f.        N.m.    V.ger.   neg. Adj.m.     Adj.f.     Adj.f.

|           Acc.Sg.      |          |   Nom.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.

|_________|           |          |____|               |_______|

        |___________|              |                          |

I._________|                        |                          |______________________II.

                                           |______________________________________III.

List of Abbreviations

pabbata+ṭṭho    va   bhūma+ṭṭhe      dhīro      bāle      avekkhati
|              |         |         |        |             |            |                |

N.m.  Adj.m.  part.  N.m. Adj.m.    N.m.       N.m.       V.act.in.

|       Nom.Sg.    |         |   Acc.Pl.  Nom.Sg   Acc.Pl.     3.Sg.pres.

|_______|           |         |____|            |             |                 |

III.__|_________|_______|_________|             |                 |

                         |             |     |                       |                  |

II.____________|_______|___|_____________|                 |

                         |__________|                                          |

                                 |_____________________________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

pamādaṃ: pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Acc.Sg. = pamādaṃ.

appamādena: appamāda-, N.m.: conscientiousness, non-negligence. A negated (by the negative prefix a-) word pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Doubled p is due to the euphonic combination (a + pamāda = appamāda). Ins.Sg. = appamādena.

yadā, Rel.Adv.: when.

nudati, V.: to expel, to drive away, to reject. The verb root nud-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = nudati.

paṇḍito: paṇḍita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = paṇḍito.

List of Abbreviations

paññāpāsādam, paññāpāsāda-, N. : the stronghold of wisdom. A compound of:
    paññā-, N.f.: wisdom.

    pāsāda-, N.m.: stronghold, palace, building on a high foundation.

Acc.Sg. = paññāpāsādam.

āruyha, V.ger.: having climbed. The verb ruh- (to grow, to spread) with the prefix ā- (towards). To climb, to ascend, to go up to.

asoko: asoka-, Adj.: free from sorrow. The word soka-, N.m.: grief, sorrow, negated by the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m.: asoko.

sokiniṃ: sokinī-, Adj.f.: sorrowful. The word soka-, N.m.: grief, sorrow, with the possessive suffix -in. Feminine form -inī. Acc.Sg. = sokiniṃ.

List of Abbreviations

pajaṃ: pajā-, N.f.: beings, people, mankind. Acc.Sg. = pajaṃ.

pabbataṭṭho: pabbataṭṭha-, Adj.: standing on the mountain. Composed of:
    pabbata-, N.m: mountain, hill.

    -ṭṭha-, Adj. suffix: standing. From the verb ṭhā- (to stand).

Nom.Sg.m. = pabbataṭṭho.

va, part.: as, like.

List of Abbreviations

bhūmaṭṭhe: bhūmaṭṭha-, Adj.: standing on the ground. Composed of:
    bhūma-, N.m.: ground, earth, soil.

    -ṭṭha-, Adj. suffix: standing. From the verb ṭhā- (to stand).

Acc.Pl.m. = bhūmaṭṭhe.

dhīro: dhīra-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Sg.m. = dhīro.

bāle: bāla-, N.m.: fool. Acc.Pl. = bāle.

avekkhati, V.: to look at. The verb ikkh- (to see) with the prefix ava- (down, over). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = avekkhati.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse is composed of two sentences. The first one is: pamādaṃ appamādena yadā nudati paṇḍito paññāpāsādam āruyha asoko (When the wise one expels negligence by conscientiousness, having climbed the stronghold of wisdom, without sorrow). The subject is the word paṇḍito (wise one, nominative singular), with a attribute asoko (sorrowless, nominative singular). The verb is nudati (expels, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is pamādaṃ (negligence, accusative singular) with its attribute appamādena (by conscientiousness, instrumental singular). There is a subordinated clause paññāpāsādam āruyha (having climbed the stronghold of wisdom). Here the verb is āruyha (having climbed, gerund) and the object paññāpāsādam (the stronghold of wisdom, accusative singular). The whole sentence is introduced by the relative adverb yadā (when).
    The second sentence is sokiniṃ pajaṃ pabbataṭṭho va bhūmaṭṭhe dhīro bāle avekkhati (such a clever one observes the sorrowing crowd as somebody standing on a mountain observes the foolish people on the ground). We would expect the adverb tadā (then) as a counterbalance of the relative adverb yadā (when) in the first sentence, but it is not really necessary. We can further analyze this sentence into two segments: dhīro sokiniṃ pajaṃ avekkhati (the clever one observes sorrowing crowd). Here the subject is dhīro (clever one, nominative singular) and the verb avekkhati (observes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is pajaṃ (crowd, accusative singular) with an attribute sokiniṃ (sorrowing, accusative singular). The second segment is a simile: pabbataṭṭho va bhūmaṭṭhe bāle (as somebody standing on a mountain [observes] fools standing on the ground). Here, the subject is pabbataṭṭho (standing on a mountain, nominative singular). The verb is missing, the word avekkhati from the first segment is implied. The object is bāle (fools, accusative plural) with its attribute bhūmaṭṭhe (standing on the ground, accusative plural).



Commentary:

    The story says, that one of the chief disciples of the Buddha, the Elder Mahākassapa was once practicing meditation, trying to find out which of the beings in the world were conscientious and which were negligent. He also tried to find who was about to be born and who was about to die.
    The Buddha learned about this and told him not to waste his time on something like that - because such things do not lead to the Awakenment. In addition to that, such a task is possible only for a Buddha, because of the innumerable beings in the world. The Buddha the spoke this verse.

    The negligence is of course best dispelled with the conscientiousness. When we are able to do that, we will "climb the stronghold of wisdom", we will reach the Nirvana. Then we can look at the others, who are still negligent, as somebody on the top of a mountain can watch the people on the plain below him.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pamādam
appamādena

yadā

nudati

paṇḍito

paññāpāsādam

paññā

pāsādam

āruyha

asoko

sokiniṃ

pajaṃ

pabbataṭṭho

va

bhūmaṭṭhe

dhīro

bāle

avekkhati