John Legend - Refuge (When It's Cold Outside)

शरणं गच्छामि (sharaNaM gacchAmi)
I go(seek) Refuge!


Today we would cover 1st person singular grammar for present tense.


Let's take the root word गच्छ्(gacch). It means "go"


So how do we say I go ?


I go in Sanskrit is अहं गच्छामि (ahaM gacchAmi)(I Go).


The root word  गच्छ्(gacch) when conjugated in 1st person singular becomes गच्छामि (gacchAmi).


In fact by default  गच्छामि (gacchAmi) means "I go" so even if we do not use the word अहं(ahaM) along with it  there is no problem at all.




If we want to say "he goes" it would be   सः गच्छाति (saH gacchAti) or just गच्छाति  (gacchAti) alone would suffice.




In the Buddhist chant.. we see the usage of गच्छामि (gacchAmi) to denote "I go"


बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि (buddhaM sharaNaM gacchAmi)


धर्मं शरणं गच्छामि (dharmaM  sharaNaM gacchAmi)


संघं शरणं गच्छामि (sanghaM sharaNaM gacchAmi).



The meaning of the above three chants differ slightly depending on the school of thought...but from the linguistic point of view the meaning is as follows:


The word बुद्धं (buddhaM) means Intellect with emphasis on the discerning ability...but also mostly translated as The Buddha.


The word धर्मं (dharmaM) does not have an English equivalent and its best described as the Law of Being/The inherent quality of each person depending on the stage of their life...its also translated as the Dharmic Teachings of The Buddha.



The word संघं (sanghaM) means Community/Organization/Association. In this context it can also mean a Union with the Higher Self


The word  शरणं (sharaNaM ) means Refuge.


So the meaning of everything is :


I go(seek) refuge in the The Buddha/discerning power of the intellect.

I go (seek) refuge in the Dharmic Teachings/Law of Being.

I go (seek) refuge in the Community/Union with the Higher Self.



Note: This translation is from the linguistic point of view.