Pali formulas and sentences

[Sekha]

This thread is similar to "Pali word of the day", but I figured out it would be appropriate to create a separate thread for whole sentences.

So let's begin with the basis:


buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi



buddhaṃ:
buddha- Adj.: p.p. of the verb budh-, to awaken. Awakened One, Enlightened One. Here as a noun: a being who has attained nirvana. The historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Acc.Sg.: buddhaṃ.

saraṇaṃ:
saraṇa- N.n.: refuge. Acc.Sg.: saraṇaṃ.

gacchāmi
verb gam-, to go. Here 1st person singular of active indicative, present tense: I go.

dhammaṃ:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together". Acc.Sg.: dhammaṃ.

saṅghaṃ
saṅgha-, N.m.: community. The community of the Buddha's followers. It is of two kinds: the saṅgha of lay followers and the saṅgha of monks and nuns. Acc.Sg.: saṅghaṃ.

[Sekha]

Here is the formula for undertaking the first pancasila:

Pānātipātā veramanī sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi

Pānātipātā
pana = Skt. [Sanskrit] prana - life breath
ati + pat = attack
pat from patati - to fly, to fall. (From this, Latin praepes - quick, peto - to go for, impetus, attack, etc.) To fall, jump, fall down on.
Panatipata = to cause prana to fall; to attack life breath.

veramanī
abstinence

sikkhāpadam
pāda: foot ; pādaka: foundation or a basis ; sikkhā: study; discipline ; sikkhana: learning; training
>sikkhāpadam: foundation for the training

samādiyāmi
undertake

[Sekha]

Now the second one

Adinnādānā veramanī sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi

Adinnādānā
a = not
dinn = taking
a + dānā = not given
Adinnādānā = not taking what is not given.

veramanī
abstinence

sikkhāpadam
pāda: foot ; pādaka: foundation or a basis ; sikkhā: study; discipline ; sikkhana: learning; training
>sikkhāpadam: foundation for the training

samādiyāmi
undertake

[PeterB]

Another good idea....

[Kim O'Hara]

This looks like a good place to repeat a question I asked in another thread. I never did get an answer over there and the discussion took off in a direction that didn't interest me ... but I still do want to know. Here it is:

... I do know, however, is that [Pali] doesn't always follow the grammatical structure of English. I remember when I was learning Italian in school, I found it interesting that the noun came before the descriptive word. It would be "chair yellow" rather than "yellow chair", and I've found that Pali can work like this at times. If it is working like Italian in this instance (which I suspect it is) dukkha is a description or quality of sankhara. So just like we don't need to say "chair are yellow" or "chair is yellow" and so on in order to attribute yellowness to it, there doesn't need to be an extra word wedged inbetween sankhara and dukkha in order for it to mean "all formations are suffering". That's probably as far as I can go in answering your question with my limited knowledge.
Metta,
Retro.

As far as I can tell, I think it's quite similar to what retro said.
It is a predicative construction consisting of two nouns and a verb.
Like "sabbe purise samane honti" meaning "All men are ascetics", but "honti" is not needed to say the same thing.
"sabbe purise samane" is enough also meaning "All men are ascetics". In the same way "sabbe sankhara dukkha (honti)" means "all formations are suffering".

Thanks, Retro, Acinteyyo.
So 'honti' in this case is the verb?
And it's missing from "sabbe sankhara dukkha"?
Is the implied verb in such constructions always "is" (or "are")?

Kim

Thanks,
Kim

[David N. Snyder]

Another good idea....

Yes, I agree. Another thread to help us learn and for study.

[Sekha]

So 'honti' in this case is the verb?
And it's missing from "sabbe sankhara dukkha"?
Is the implied verb in such constructions always "is" (or "are")?

as I understand it, yes "honti" would be the verb.
and yes, it would be omitted in "sabbe sankhara dukkha"

just like in spanish, the subject, when it is a personnal pronoun, can be omitted, because it is obvious from the context, ex: 'me voy a la playa': I go to the beach, without using the pronoun "yo"

and I think it is the only verb which can be omitted without denaturing the meaning of a sentence

[Kim O'Hara]

Thanks, Dukkhanirodha.

Kim

[mikenz66]

Thanks Dukkhaniroda,

just like in spanish, the subject, when it is a personnal pronoun, can be omitted, because it is obvious from the context, ex: 'me voy a la playa': I go to the beach, without using the pronoun "yo"

This is a good example that seems to occur in many languages. It is common in Thai for example, to omit pronouns and use that same construction: "bpai haat" ("go beach"). But I can't think of any good examples of leaving out verbs in languages I know anything about apart from Pali, where the verb "to be" is omitted almost all the time:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... ml#morning

"Rūpaṃ aniccaṃ,
"Form is inconstant,
Vedanā aniccā,
Feeling is inconstant,
Saññā aniccā,
Perception is inconstant,
Saṅkhārā aniccā,
Mental processes are inconstant,
Viññāṇaṃ aniccaṃ,
Consciousness is inconstant,
Rūpaṃ anattā,
Form is not-self,
Vedanā anattā,
Feeling is not-self,
Saññā anattā,
Perception is not-self,
Saṅkhārā anattā,
Mental processes are not-self,
Viññāṇaṃ anattā,
Consciousness is not-self,
Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā,
All processes are inconstant,
Sabbe dhammā anattāti."
All phenomena are not-self."

Mike

[Sekha]

But I can't think of any good examples of leaving out verbs in languages I know anything about apart from Pali, where the verb "to be" is omitted almost all the time:

it occurs in hindi, in negative phrases: "malum hahin" stands for "mujhe malum nahin hai"

here both "mujhe" (pronoun) and "hai" (to be) are omitted.

mujhe= to me
malum= knowledge
nahin= not
hai= is

litterally: "to me, knowledge is not"= I don't know

[Sekha]

Ahbrahma cariyā veramanī sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi

Ahbrahma cariyā
A-: negative prefix
brahma: (adj.) brahmic
cariyā : conduct; behaviour.
brahma cariyā: holy life
>Abrahma cariyā: non-brahmic behavior = non-celibacy

[PeterB]

Can I make a suggestion Dukkhanirodha ?

I would find it helpful to have a literal and then more coloquial finished statement.

[Sekha]

I would find it helpful to have a literal and then more coloquial finished statement.

Of course. I should have done that spontaneously from the beginning

[Sekha]

Musāvāda veramanī sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi


musāvāda
musā: falsehood; lie
vāda: theory; saying
>musāvāda: lying.


I undertake the training rule to refrain from telling lies

[Sekha]

DhP 26:
pamādaṃ anuyuñjanti bālā dummedhino janā
appamādaṃ ca medhāvī dhanaṃ seṭṭhaṃ va rakkhati


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

anuyuñjanti
V.: to practice, to give oneself up to, to pursue. The verb yuñj- (to join, to unite) with the prefix anu- (along, at, to). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = anuyuñjanti.

bālā
bāla-, N.m.: fool. Nom.Pl. = bālā.

dummedhino
dummedhin-, Adj.m.: foolish, ignorant. Derived from the word medhā-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the possessive suffix -in and then the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du + medhin = dummedhin). Nom.Pl. = dummedhino.

janā
jana-, N.m.: person, man. Nom.Pl. = janā.

appamādaṃ
appamāda-, N.m.: vigilence, 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). Acc.Sg. = appamādaṃ.

appamādaṃ
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). Acc.Sg. = appamādaṃ.

ca
conj.: and.

medhāvī
medhāvin-, N.m.: intelligent person, wise one. Nom.Sg. = medhāvī.

dhanaṃ
dhana-, N.n.: wealth, riches. Acc.Sg. = dhanaṃ.

seṭṭhaṃ
seṭṭha-, Adj.: best. Acc.Sg.n. = seṭṭhaṃ.

va
part.: as, like.

rakkhati
V.: protects. The verb root rakkh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = rakkhati.


The fools, the ignorant people give themselves up to negligence.
And the wise one protects vigilence as the greatest treasure.

[PeterB]

Thank you Dukkhanirodha..

[Sekha]

This would be an interesting thread, but I don't have the time to keep it up. Although it would be of great benefit, I still have too many even more important and beneficial things to do.

If anyone wants to take it over...

[David N. Snyder]

This would be an interesting thread, but I don't have the time to keep it up. Although it would be of great benefit, I still have too many even more important and beneficial things to do.
If anyone wants to take it over...

Hi DN,

You've done a great job with this thread. I'll try and add some phrases too when I get the chance.

[David N. Snyder]

Ādibrahmacariyaka-sīla

'morality of genuine pure conduct', consists in right speech, right bodily action and right livelihood, forming the 3rd, 4th and 5th links of the 8-fold path see: sacca IV.3, 4, 5; cf. Vis.M I. In A. II, 86 it is said:

With regard to those moral states connected with and corresponding to the genuine pure conduct, he is morally strong, morally firm and trains himself in the moral rules taken up by himself. After overcoming the 3 mental chains ego-belief, skeptic doubt and attachment to mere rules and ritual; see: samyojana he becomes one who will be 'reborn 7 times at most' see: sotāpanna and after only seven times more wandering through this round of rebirths amongst men and divine beings, he will put an end to suffering.

[David N. Snyder]

Ādīnavānupassanā-ñāna

'knowledge consisting in contemplation of danger', is one of the 8 kinds of insight vipassanā that form the 'purification of the knowledge and vision of the path-progress see: visuddhi VI. 4. It is further one of the 18 chief kinds of insight.