Verses¶
On Protection
Tāyana-gāthā
handa mayaṃ tāyana-gāthāyo bhaṇāmase
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| handa | ind | emp | now! let's |
| mayaṃ | pron | 1.nom.pl | we |
| tāyana- | noun | name of a deity; lit. protecting; preserving | |
| gāthāyo | noun | fem nom pl | verse; poem; stanza |
| bhaṇāmase | verb | imp.reflx.3.pl | we must speak; say; we must tell; let us chant; let us proclaim |
Now let us chant the verse of Tāyana (protecting)
[sn 2.8]
chinda sotaṃ parakkamma, kāme panūda brāhmaṇa.
nappahāya munī kāme, n'ekattam'upapajjati.
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| chinda | verb | imp.2.sg | you cut, cut off, sever, cross |
| sotaṃ | noun | masc.acc.sg | stream, river, current |
| parakkamma | verb | ger | making continuous effort, striving, persevering persisting |
| kāme | noun | masc.acc.pl | pleasures, sensual pleasures |
| panūda | verb | imp.2.sg | you dispel, drive out, reject, push away |
| brāhmaṇa | noun | masc.voc.sg | o saint, holy man, paragon, sage |
| nappahāya | verb | ger | not leaving behind, not giving up, not abandoning |
| muni | noun | masc.nom.sg | monk, sage, seer, hermit, silent sage |
| kāme | noun | masc.loc.sg | in pleasure, sensual pleasure |
| na- | ind | not | |
| ekattaṃ- | noun | nt.acc.sg | unity; identity; integration |
| upapajjati | verb | pr.3.sg | enters upon, enters (a state) |
Persist, cross the stream and dispel sensual pleasures, o Holy man! Having not abandoned (them) a sage can not enter the state of unity.
kayirā ce, kayirāth'enaṃ, daḷham'enaṃ parakkame.
sithilo hi paribbājo, bhiyyo ākirate rajaṃ.
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| kayirā | verb | opt.3.sg | on should do, one could make, one wishes to do |
| ce | ind | if | |
| kayirātha- | verb | opt.refl.3.sg | one by oneself should make |
| enaṃ | noun | masc.acc.sg | this, it |
| daḷham- | ind | adv | firmly, strongly, unwaveringly |
| enaṃ | noun | masc.acc.sg | this, it |
| parakkame | verb | opt.3.sg | should undertake, would go for, advance towards make an effort |
| sithilo | adj | masc.nom.sg | loose, lax, slack |
| hi | ind | indeed, certainly, truly, definitely | |
| paribbājo | noun | masc.nom.sg | homeless spiritual seeker, wandering monk |
| bhiyyo | ind | more (than), and more (than), even more (than) | |
| ākirate | verb | opt.3.sg | could stir up, should heap up, kick up |
| rajaṃ | noun | masc.acc.sg | (mental) impurity, defilement, lit: dust, dirt |
If one should do (something), he should do this by himself and undertake it firmly. Indeed loose wandering monk could/would stir up even more defilements.
akataṃ dukkaṭaṃ seyyo, pacchā tappati dukkaṭaṃ,
katañ'ca sukataṃ seyyo, yaṃ katvā n'ānutappati.
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| akataṃ | adj | nt.nom.sg | not done, not made, not created |
| dukkaṭaṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | bad deed, wrong action |
| seyyo | ind | better (than) | |
| pacchā | ind | adv | afterwards, later, in the future |
| tappati | verb | pr.3.sg | regrets, suffers remorse, lit. is burned |
| dukkaṭaṃ | noun | nt.acc.sg | bad deed, wrong action |
| kataṃ'ca | pp | nt.nom.sg | and done, made |
| sukataṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | good deed, right action |
| seyyo | ind | better (than) | |
| yaṃ | pron | nt.acc.sg | that which, whichever |
| katvā | verb | abs | having done, having made |
| nānutappati | verb | pr.3.sg | does not regret, does not suffer remorse, lit. is not burned |
A bad deed not done is better, (for) afterwards one regrets (on account of) a bad deed. A good deed done is better, having done which, one does not regret.
kuso yathā duggahito, hattham'ev'ānukantati,
sāmaññaṃ dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ, nirayāy'upakaḍḍhati.
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| kuso | noun | masc.nom.sg | Kusa grass |
| yathā | ind | like, just as | |
| duggahito | adj | masc.nom.sg | wrongly held, grasped in the wrong way |
| hattham- | noun | masc.acc.sg | hand |
| eva- | ind | only, just, so, even | |
| anukantati | verb | pr.3.sg | cuts, slashes, slices, shears |
| sāmaññaṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | monkhood, state of being a monk |
| dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ | pp | nt.nom.sg | wrongly held, incorrectly grasped |
| nirayāya- | noun | masc.dat.sg | to hell, lit. gone down |
| ūpakaḍḍhati | verb | pr.3.sg | drags towards, pulls to |
Just as Kusa grass, when wrongly held, only cuts the hand, wrongly held monkhood drags (one) towards hell.
yaṃkiñci sithilaṃ kammaṃ, saṅkiliṭṭhañ'ca yaṃ vataṃ,
saṅkassaraṃ brahmacariyaṃ, na taṃ hoti mahapphalan'ti
| Pāli | POS | Grammar | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| yaṃ- | pron | nt.nom.sg | whatever, that which |
| kiñci | pron | nt.nom.sg | some, something, anything |
| sithilaṃ | adj | nt.nom.sg | loose, lax, slack |
| kammaṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | action, deed, doing |
| saṅkiliṭṭhañ'ca | adj | nt.nom.sg | tarnished, defiled, tainted, corrupted, impure, dirty stained, soiled |
| yaṃ | pron | nt.nom.sg | whatever, that which |
| vataṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | religious practice, spiritual practice, ritual observance |
| saṅkassaraṃ | adj | nt.nom.sg | suspect, dodgy, doubtful |
| brahmacariyaṃ | noun | nt.nom.sg | spiritual path, holy life, celibacy |
| na | ind | not | |
| taṃ | pron | nt.nom.sg | that |
| hoti | verb | pr.3.sg | is, there is |
| mahapphalan-ti | adj | nt.nom.sg | of great fruit, yielding good results |
Whatever deed is slack, whatever observance is corrupted, (whatever) holy life is doubtful – that is not yielding good results.