1.12. Celasutta The Turban (SN 56:34; V 440) Flashcards
āditte . . . cele vā sīse vā
“Āditte, bhikkhave, cele vā sīse vā, kimassa karaṇīyan”ti?”
“one’s turban or head were ablaze.” The construction is a locative absolute (see p. 71), where the secondary subject is cele sīse, the turban [or] head, and the secondary action is āditte, ablaze. Normally the locative absolute with the locative of the past participle is used to state “when X has occurred” or “when Y did X,” but since the situation described here is purely hypothetical — it being highly unlikely that one’s turban or head would actually be ablaze — in translation it makes better sense to use “if” than “when.”
kimassa karaṇīyaṃ
“Āditte, bhikkhave, cele vā sīse vā, kimassa karaṇīyan”ti?
“what should be done?” This is the main clause. Kimassa results from the sandhi of kiṃ and assa, the latter an optative auxiliary verb paired with karaṇiyaṃ, a future passive participle. On this construction, see p. 32.
tass’eva
“Āditte, bhante, cele vā sīse vā, tass’eva celassa vā sīsassa vā nibbāpanāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyan”ti.”
the genitive demonstrative tassa qualifying celassa and sīsassa, with eva adding emphasis.
nibbāpanāya
“Āditte, bhante, cele vā sīse vā, tass’eva celassa vā sīsassa vā nibbāpanāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyan”ti.”
a dative of nibbāpana, “extinguishing,” from the causative verb nibbāpeti, “extinguishes.”
ādittaṃ . . . celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
an accusative construction indicating the objects of the two absolutives, ajjhupekkhitvā and amanasikaritvā.
ajjhupekkhitvā
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
an absolutive of ajjhupekkhati, “observes equanimously.” The phonetic development is adhi + upekkhati > adhyupekkhati > ajjhupekkhati.
amanasikaritvā
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
a negative absolutive of manasikaroti, “attends to.” See p. 34.
anabhisametānaṃ
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
“not been realized (not been broken through to)”; a negation of the past participle abhisameta (from abhisameti, “realizes, comprehends, breaks through to”); the form is plural genitive in apposition to ariyasaccānaṃ.
abhisamayāya
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
“for realizing”; the dative of the noun abhisamaya, also from abhisameti.
adhimatto
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
“extraordinary”; an adjective from adhi, “superior” + matta, “amount.” The word qualifies each term in this series but takes the masculine gender of the first term, chando.
appaṭivānī
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
a negation of the feminine paṭivānī, “turning away, discouragement.” Hence I render it “persistence.” The double consonant -pp- is due to the influence of Skt prati-.
karaṇīyaṃ
“Ādittaṃ, bhikkhave, celaṃ vā sīsaṃ vā ajjhupekkhitvā amanasikaritvā anabhisametānaṃ catunnaṃ ariyasaccānaṃ yathābhūtaṃ abhisamayāya adhimatto chando ca vāyāmo ca ussāho ca ussoḷhī ca appaṭivānī ca sati ca sampajaññañca karaṇīyaṃ.”
“should be done.” Although this future passive participle applies to all the preceding nominative nouns, it takes the neuter gender of the last term, sampajaññaṃ.
