Buddha-Carita [sanskrit]

by E. B. Cowell | 2003 | 11,474 words | ISBN-10: 8187418788 | ISBN-13: 9788187418788

The Buddha Carita (Saddharma-pundarika) by Asvaghosa a famous Sanskrit text revolving around the live and exploits of the Buddha. The Buddha Carita (Buddhacarita) is written in the style of a Kavya (or Mahakavya, epic poetry) and extant original Sanskrit text consists of roughly 1,000 metrical verses.

Verse 4.59

जरां व्याधिं च मृत्युं च को हि जानन् सचेतनः ।
स्वस्थस्तिष्ठन् निषीदेद्वा सुपेद्वा किं पुनर्हसेत् ॥ ५९ ॥

jarāṃ vyādhiṃ ca mṛtyuṃ ca ko hi jānan sacetanaḥ |
svasthastiṣṭhan niṣīdedvā supedvā kiṃ punarhaset || 59 ||

'What rational being, who knows of old age, death and sickness, could stand or sit down at his ease or sleep, far less laugh?

English translation by E. B. Cowell (2003) Buy now!

Glossary of Sanskrit terms

Note: This extracts Sanskrit terms and links to English definitions from the glossary, based on an experimental segmentation of verse (4.59). Some terms could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned. Click on the word to show English definitions.

Jara, Vyadhi, Mrityu, Kah, Janat, Sacetana, Svastha, Tishthat, Kim, Punar,

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit text (Buddha-carita Verse 4.59). If the system was successful in segmenting the sentence, you will see of which words it is made up of, generally consisting of Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Participles and Indeclinables. Click on the link to show all possible derivations of the word.

  • Line 1: “jarāṃ vyādhiṃ ca mṛtyuṃ ca ko hi jānan sacetanaḥ
  • jarām -
  • jarā (noun, feminine)
    [accusative single]
  • vyādhim -
  • vyādhi (noun, masculine)
    [accusative single]
  • ca -
  • ca (indeclinable conjunction)
    [indeclinable conjunction]
    ca (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    ca (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • mṛtyum -
  • mṛtyu (noun, masculine)
    [accusative single]
  • ca -
  • ca (indeclinable conjunction)
    [indeclinable conjunction]
    ca (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    ca (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • ko* -
  • kaḥ (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    ka (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
    kaḥ (pronoun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • hi -
  • hi (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
  • jānan -
  • jānat (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single], [vocative single]
    jñā -> jānat (participle, masculine)
    [nominative single from √jñā class 9 verb], [vocative single from √jñā class 9 verb]
  • sacetanaḥ -
  • sacetana (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • Line 2: “svasthastiṣṭhan niṣīdedvā supedvā kiṃ punarhaset
  • svasthas -
  • svastha (noun, masculine)
    [nominative single]
  • tiṣṭhan -
  • sthā -> tiṣṭhat (participle, masculine)
    [nominative single from √sthā class 1 verb], [vocative single from √sthā class 1 verb]
  • Cannot analyse niṣīdedvā*su
  • su -
  • (noun, masculine)
    [adverb], [vocative single]
    (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [adverb], [nominative single], [vocative single], [accusative single]
    (noun, feminine)
    [adverb], [vocative single]
    so (noun, feminine)
    [adverb]
  • pedvā -
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • punar -
  • punar (indeclinable adverb)
    [indeclinable adverb]
    punar (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
  • haset -
  • has (verb class 1)
    [optative active third single]

Other editions:

Also see the following editions of the Sanskrit text or (alternative) English translations of the Buddha-carita Verse 4.59

Cover of edition (2003)

The Buddha-Carita By Asvaghosa or Acts of Buddha
by E. B. Cowell (2003)

Buy now!
Cover of edition (2011)

Buddha Carita of Asvaghosa
by Shanti Lal Nagar (2011)

Sanskrit text, English translation, Index of Verse and Photographs of Archaeological Evidence

Buy now!
Cover of edition (2016)

Asvaghosa’s Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha
by E. H. Johnston (2016)

Sanskrit text with English Translation

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