千品

Sahassavagga

千品
Thousands

100

Sahassam-api ce vācā, anatthapadasaṃhitā,
ekaṃ atthapadaṃ seyyo, yaṃ sutvā upasammati.

雖誦一千言，若無義理者，不如一義語，聞已得寂靜。
If there were a thousand utterances made up of meaningless words, better is one word of meaning, which hearing one becomes calm.

I take -pada- to mean “word” in pāda b, see the note on 1.
I take api in the sense of giving totality to a numeral or quasi-numeral, rather than in the concessive sense “even”, cf. sabbam pi 108, ettam pi 196, ubho pi 306.

101

Sahassam-api ce gāthā, anatthapadasaṃhitā,
ekaṃ gāthāpadaṃ seyyo, yaṃ sutvā upasammati.

雖誦千句偈，若無義理者，不如一句偈，聞已得寂靜。
If there were a thousand verses made up of meaningless word, better is one word of a verse, which hearing one becomes calm.

The cty seems to be taking gāthāpada to mean “verse”. I take -pada to mean “word”, see the note on 1.

102

Yo ca gāthā sataṃ bhāse, anatthapadasaṃhitā,
ekaṃ dhammapadaṃ seyyo, yaṃ sutvā upasammati.

彼誦百句偈，若無義理者，不如一法句，聞已得寂靜。
And if anyone were to speak one hundred verses made up of meaningless words, better is one word of the doctrine, which hearing one becomes calm.

For yo = si quis, see the note on 76.
I take -pada to mean “word” in dhammapada, see the note on 1. I assume that the syntax is lax, and anatthapadasaṃhitā agrees with gāthā in gāthāsataṃ.

103

Yo sahassaṃ sahassena, saṅgāme mānuse jine,
ekañca jeyyamattānaṃ, sa ve saṅgāmajuttamo.

彼於戰場上，雖勝百萬人，未若克己者，戰士之最上。
If a man were to conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, but conquer one, himself, he indeed is the best conqueror in battle.

For the sandhi consonant -m- in jeyya-m-attānaṃ, see the note on 34.
Note the sandhi of -i + u- > -u- in saṅgāmaji (Skt -jit) + uttamo > saṅgāmajuttamo. It would be possible to take this as a cpd, or as two separate words “he is the best conqueror” or “he is the best of conquerors”.
For ca = tu, suggested by pana in the cty, see the note on 5.

104

Attā have jitaṃ seyyo, yā cāyaṃ itarā pajā,
attadantassa posassa, niccaṃ saññatacārino.

能克制自己，過於勝他人，若有克己者，常行自節制。
The self as a conquest is indeed better than these other people (as a conquest) for a man who has tamed himself, who constantly wanders self-controlled.

Pādas ab go with 103, and pādas cd with 105.
Clearly the cty was puzzled by the fact that jitaṃ seems to be in agreement with attā, but is neuter. Rather than following the cty in assuming a change of gender, I take jitaṃ as the past participle used as a noun “conquering” or “conquest”, in apposition to attā, i.e. “the self as a conquest” is better than other people as a conquest, i.e. the conquest of the self is better than the conquest of other people. For a possible example of a change of gender, see the note on 201. For a past participle used as a noun, cf. jita 105 179, apajita 105, huta 106-7, pajjalita 146, mamāyita 367.
For posa, see 125. For the relation between poso and Skt puruṣa, see Sn 110.
In yā cāyaṃ we presumably have yā ce ayaṃ, cf. yañce in 106 foll.
For the implication of inferiority in itarā pajā, see the note on 85.

105

Neva devo na gandhabbo, na māro saha brahmunā,
jitaṃ apajitaṃ kayirā, tathārūpassa jantuno.

天神乾闥婆，魔王並梵天，皆遭於敗北，不能勝彼人。
Not a god nor a gandhabba, nor Māra with Brahmā, could make conquest into defeat for a person of such a kind.

For jitaṃ and apajitaṃ as past participles used as nouns, see the note on 104.
For the labialisation of -a- > -u- in brahmunā, cf. 230 and sotthim 219, and see Norman 1976B.

106

Māse māse sahassena, yo yajetha sataṃ samaṃ,
ekañca bhāvitattānaṃ, muhuttam-api pūjaye,
sā yeva pūjanā seyyo, yañce vassasataṃ hutaṃ.

月月投千金，供犧牲百年，不如須臾間，供養修己者，彼如是供養，勝祭祀百年。
If anyone were to sacrifice with a thousand month by month for a hundred years, but were to honour even for a moment someone with developed self — that very homage would better than sacrificing for a hundred years.

For hutaṃ as a past particle used as a noun “sacrificing”, see the note on 104.
For yo = si quis, see the note on 76.
For yañce = “than if”, cf. 229 308 and yā cāyaṃ 104.
For ca = tu, see the note on 5.
It is not easy to analyse sataṃsamaṃ, since -samaṃ “year” appears to be sg, Udāna-v has the cpd samāśatam, Mvu has śataṃ śataṃ. The Udāna-v reading suggests that the original form in Pāli was samāsataṃ, which developed to samaṃsataṃ by the common alternation of a long vowel and a short nasalised vowel before a consonant (VC/VNC). This cpd was probably assumed to consist of two separate words samaṃ sataṃ, both apparently acc sg forms, which could therefore be recited/written in the reverse order, since the scansion was the same either way.

107

Yo ca vassasataṃ jantu, aggiṃ paricare vane,
ekañca bhāvitattānaṃ, muhuttam-api pūjaye,
sā yeva pūjanā seyyo, yañce vassasataṃ hutaṃ.

若人一百年，事火於林中，不如須臾間，供養修己者，彼如是供養，勝祭祀百年。
And if any person were to attend the fire for a hundred years in the forest, but were to honour even for a moment someone with developed self — that very homage would be better than sacrificing for a hundred years.

108

Yaṃ kiñci yiṭṭhaṃ va hutaṃ va loke, saṃvaccharaṃ yajetha puññapekkho,
sabbam pi taṃ na catubhāgam-eti, abhivādanā ujjugatesu seyyo.

若人於世間，施捨或供養，求福一周年，如是諸功德，不及四分一，禮敬正直者。
If a man were to sacrifice in this world any sacrifice or offering for a year, looking for merit, all that does not come to a quarter (of the better offering). Respectful salutation to the righteous is a better thing.

For the cognate acc yiṭṭhaṃ with yajetha, cf. acāri cārikaṃ 326.
The cty seems to draw a distinction between yiṭṭha and huta.
For yaṃ = si quem, see the note on 76.
Note the v.l. va … va for ca … ca, if we read va … va, we must suppose it is m.c. for vā … vā.
I take pi after sabbam as implying totality, see the note on api in 100.
We might regard -jj- in ujju-gatesu as m.c., but it occurs elsewhere in contexts where lengthening m.c. is not required. It is possible that this is a rare development of ṛ > ur, i.e. *ṛju > urju > ujju, see Geiger §12 note 1, contrast uju in 33.

109

Abhivādanasīlissa, niccaṃ vuḍḍhāpacāyino,
cattāro dhammā vaḍḍhanti, āyu vaṇṇo sukhaṃ balaṃ.

好樂敬禮者，常尊於長老，四法得增長，壽美樂與力。
To him who practises respectful salutation, constantly respecting his elders, four things increase, age, beauty, happiness, strengh.

For -sīli(n) at the end of cpds in the sense of “practising”, see MW, s.v. śīla.
As Fausbøll pointed out, the same verse, with slight variations, occurs in Manu. Winternitz suggested that this probable quotation from a brahmanical text was given simply to connect the following verses (110-5) with it. It is noteworthy that it is not found in this introductory position in PDhp, GDhp or Udāna-v, and the verse is in fact found only in GDhp 172, in the Suha-varga.

110

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, dussīlo asamāhito,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, sīlavantassa jhāyino.

若人壽百歲，破戒無三昧，不如生一日，持戒修禪定。
And if anyone were to live for a hundred years, wicked and unconcentrated, living for one day would be better for him being virtuous and meditating.

For yo = si quis, see the note on 76.

111

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, duppañño asamāhito,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, paññavantassa jhāyino.

若人壽百歲，無慧無三昧，不如生一日，具慧修禪定。
And if anyone were to live for one hundred years, ignorant and unconcentrated, living for one day would be better for him having knowledge and meditating.

112

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, kusīto hīnavīriyo,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, vīriyam-ārabhato daḷhaṃ.

若人壽百歲，怠惰不精進，不如生一日，勵力行精進。
And if anyone were to live for one hundred years, lazy and lacking in energy, living for day would be better for him strenuously putting forth energy.

I take daḷhaṃ as an acc used adverbially, cf. 61.

113

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, apassaṃ udayabbayaṃ,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, passato udayabbayaṃ.

若人壽百歲，不見生滅法，不如生一日，得見生滅法。
And if anyone were to live one hundred years, not seeing arising and passing away, living for one day would be better for him seeing arising and passing away.

114

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, apassaṃ amataṃ padaṃ,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, passato amataṃ padaṃ.

若人壽百歲，不見不死道，不如生一日，得見不死道。
And if anyone were to live for one hundred years, not seeing the place which is death-free, living for one day would be better for him seeing the place which is death-free.

In pādas bd amataṃ padaṃ is probably a split cpd, with -ṃ- m.c., cf. amata-pada in 21. I take padaṃ to mean “place”, see the note on 1.

115

Yo ca vassasataṃ jīve, apassaṃ dhammam-uttamaṃ,
ekāhaṃ jīvitaṃ seyyo, passato dhammam-uttamaṃ.

若人壽百歲，不見最上法，不如生一日，得見最上法。
And if anyone were to live one hundred years, not seeing the highest doctrine, living for one day would be better for him seeing the highest doctrine.