Gāthā Sentence Translation Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar Commentary Pronunciation
List of Abbreviations

dūraṅgamaṃ ekacaraṃ asarīraṃ guhāsayaṃ

ye cittaṃ saṃyamissanti mokkhanti mārabandhanā

(DhP 37)



Sentence Translation:

Those, who can restrain the mind, which is going far, wandering alone, bodiless
and living in the cave, those will be freed from the bond of Mara.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

dūraṅ+gamaṃ eka+caraṃ    a+sarīraṃ  guhā+sayaṃ
|              |         |        |         |        |          |         |

Adv.   Adj.n.  Adj.  Adj.n.  neg.  Adj.n.  N.f.   Adj.n.

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

|________|        |_____|         |____|          |_____|

       |____________|_________|___________|_________________________

List of Abbreviations

   ye         cittaṃ saṃyamissanti mokkhanti māra+bandhanā
    |                |              |                   |            |           |

Rel.Pron.    N.n.        V.act.          V.pas.    N.m.     N.n.

Nom.Pl.   Acc.Sg.    3.Pl.fut.        3.Pl.fut.      |       Abl.Sg.

__|_________|              |                   |             |______|

   |_____|____________|                   |___________|

             |_______|                                      |

                   |_________________________|

 



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

dūraṅgamaṃ: dūraṅgama-, Adj.: going far. A compound of:
    dūraṃ, Adv.: far. Derived from dūra-, Adj.: far, distant. The change of final -ṃ to -ṅ

    is due to the euphonic combination.

    -gama-, Adj.suf.: going. Derived from the verb gam- (to go).

Acc.Sg.n. = dūraṅgamaṃ.

ekacaraṃ: ekacara-, Adj.: wandering alone. A compound of:
    eka-, Num.: one. Here as an adj.: alone, solitary.

    -cara-, Adj.suf.: wandering. Derived from the verb car- (to walk, to roam).

Acc.Sg.n. = ekacaraṃ.

List of Abbreviations

asarīraṃ: asarīra-, Adj.: bodiless. The word sarīra-, N.n.: body, negated by the negative prefix a-, thus becomes an adjective. Acc.Sg.n. = asarīraṃ.

guhāsayaṃ: guhāsaya-, Adj.: living in a cave. A compound of:
    guhā-, N.f.: cave, cavern. Derived from the verb guh- (to hide).

    āsaya-, N.m.: abode, living place, shelter. Derived from the verb si- (to lie) with

    the prefix ā- (to, on).

Acc.Sg.n. = guhāsayaṃ.

ye: yad-, Rel.Pron.: those, who. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

cittaṃ: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

saṃyamissanti, V.: will restrain. The verb yam- (to restrain) with the prefix saṃ- (together). 3.Pl.act.fut. = saṃyamissanti.

mokkhanti, V.: will be released. The verb root muc- (to be freed).
3.Pl.pas.fut. = mokkhanti.

mārabandhanā: mārabandhana-, N.n: the bond of Mara. A compound of:
    māra-, N.m.: Mara, the Evil One, Death.

    bandhana-, N.n,: bond, fetter. Derived from the verb bandh- (to bind, to fasten).

Abl.Sg. = mārabandhanā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse contains two sentences. First is dūraṅgamaṃ ekacaraṃ asarīraṃ guhāsayaṃ ye cittaṃ saṃyamissanti (Those, who can restrain the mind, which is going far, wandering alone, bodiless and living in the cave). Here, the subject is the relative pronoun ye (those, who; nominative plural). The verb is saṃyamissanti (will restrain, 3rd person, plural, active, future tense). The object is the word cittaṃ (mind, accusative singular) with its four attributes. They are: 1) dūraṅgamaṃ (going far), 2) ekacaraṃ (wandering alone), 3) asarīraṃ (bodiless), 4) guhāsayaṃ (living in the cave). They all have to agree with the object and are therefore in accusative singular.
    The rest of the verse forms the second sentence: mokkhanti mārabandhanā ([they] will be freed from the bond of Mara). The subject is missing here, we have to supply a personal pronoun te (they, nominative plural), that should form the second part of the paradigm relative pronoun - personal pronoun (ye - te). The verb is mokkhanti (will be freed, 3rd person, plural, passive, future tense). The object is mārabandhanā (from the bond of Mara, ablative singular).



Commentary:

    Saṅgharakkhita Thera was from the city of Sāvatthi. His sister gave birth to a son. People called him "The nephew Saṅgharakkhita". He also became a monk.
    Once he was offered two sets of robes. He wanted to give one set to his uncle. So at the end of the retreat he went to see him, but his uncle did not want a robe, saying he had enough. The young man felt bad, thinking the uncle does not want to share with him. So he decided to leave the Order.

    His mind began to wander and a train of thoughts appeared. When he became a layman he would sell his robes and buy a goat. The goat would breed quickly and soon he would have enough money to marry. His wife would give birth to a son. He would take his wife and son in a cart to see the uncle. On the way he would say he could carry the child. She would tell him to drive that she could carry the baby. But he will insist and grab the child. The child would fall down and the wheel would pass over him. He would get furious and hit his wife with the goading stick.

    At that time he was fanning the Thera and absentmindedly hit him with the fan. His uncle said: "You were unable to beat your wife, why hit an old monk?" The young man was embarrassed and frightened of his uncle, so he fled. The monks chased him and took him to see the Buddha. He told him the verse and said that the mind has ability to think of objects far away and that one should strive for liberation. The young monk attained the first stage of awakenment.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

dūraṅgamaṃ
dūraṅ

gamaṃ

ekacaraṃ

eka

caraṃ

asarīraṃ

guhāsayaṃ

guhā

āsayaṃ

ye

cittaṃ

saṃyamissanti

mokkhanti

mārabandhanā

māra

bandhanā