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Teachings

The Buddha's Final Instruction

Buddha-pacchima-ovāda

[DN 16.36]
siyā kho tumhākaṃ evam'assa

Pāli POS Grammar English
siyā verb opt.3rd.sg could be; may be
kho ind indeed
tumhākaṃ pron 2nd.dat.pl for you
evaṃ'assa idiom this would occur to

It could be this would occur to you:

atītasatthukaṃ pāvacanaṃ, n'atthi no satthā’ti.

Pāli POS Grammar English
atītasatthukaṃ adj nt.nom.sg with a dead teacher; whose teacher has passed away
(or)
atīta- has passed
satthukaṃ adj nt.nom.sg of the master; coming from the teacher
pāvacanaṃ, noun nt.nom.sg scripture; word
n'atthi verb pr.3.sg there is no
no pron 1st.dat.pl for us
satthā’ti. noun masc.nom.sg teacher

“The teaching is without a Teacher, there is no Teacher for us”
(or)
“The Teacher’s word has passed, there is no Teacher for us”

yo vo mayā dhammo ca vinayo ca desito paññatto so vo mam'accayena satthā

Pāli POS Grammar English
yo pron masc.nom.sg whatever
vo pron 2.dat.pl for you all
mayā pron 1.ins.sg by me
dhammo noun masc.nom.sg Teaching
ca ind and
vinayo noun masc.nom.sg Discipline
ca ind and
desito pp masc.nom.sg preached, taught, explained, instructed
paññatto pp masc.nom.sg formulated, prescribed, decreed, declared
so pron masc.nom.sg that
vo pron 2.dat.pl for you all
mama- pron 1.gen.sg of me, my
accayena ind after the passing (of), after the lapse (of) lit. with gone past
satthā noun masc.nom.sg master, teacher

Ānanda, whatever Teaching and Discipline was explained and formulated by me to you, that will be a teacher for you after my passing away.

[DN 16.21]
handa dāni bhikkhave āmantayāmi vo
vayadhammā saṅkhārā
appamādena sampādetha
ayaṃ tathāgatassa pacchimā vācā

Pāli POS Grammar English
handa ind come on! come now!
dāni ind now, immediately
bhikkhave noun voc.pl o monks!
āmantayāmi verb pr.1.sg I addresse, speak (to), tell, inform
vo pron 2.acc.pl you all
vayadhammā adj masc.nom.pl naturally disappearing, liable to disintegrate
saṅkhārā noun masc.nom.pl condition, construction, fabrication
appamādena noun masc.ins.sg with carefulness, caution, vigilance diligence, conscientiousness, heedfulness
sampādetha verb imp.2.pl you presse on, cause to accomplish, strive to achieve, trie to accomplish one's purpose
ayaṃ pron masc.nom.sg this
tathāgatassa noun masc.gen.sg of Such Become, thus gone
pacchimā adj fem.nom.sg last, final
vācā noun fem.nom.sg speech, words, statement

come now, o monks! I declare to you: condition phenomena are of the liable to disintegrate, strive for a goal with heedfulness”. This is final statement of the Tathāgata.

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