What is the function of 所 in 聽吾所說心中所以?

Question

What is the function of 所 in these two positions here 聽吾所說心中所以? Is this indicating a passive construction?

Answer 1

聽吾所說心中所以

"所以" is reason (#4 definition in the below link).

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000145637

roughly, i would interpret this verse as:

please listen to (聽) what i say (吾所說)

the reason (所以) in my heart (心中)

edited, in lieu of long comment.

the context is set, in 雜阿含經卷第二十三 [0168b13]

http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/ko/T02n0099_023

時﹒諸臣白王言﹒何故於此布施供養皆悉勝前﹒王曰﹒聽吾所說心中所以

at that time (時), statesmen asked the king (諸臣白王言) "why (何故 ) donate (布施供養) more than before (皆悉勝前)?". the king replied (王曰) . . .

so, "所以" in this context should be interpret as reason. :)

therefore, listen with your heart to what I say

in english, this verse is ok. but, "聽吾所說心中所以" can't be. in literary chinese, such english verse would be:

故﹒汝當諦聽吾言

汝當諦聽 --> listen with your heart

吾言 --> what I say

故, 遂 --> as conjunction "therefore"

edited again, in lieu of comment.

well, one need to read from preceding paragraphs:

[0167c25]　時﹒王生大歡喜﹒捨十萬兩珍寶﹒供養其塔﹒而說偈言 . . .

[0168a08]　時﹒王捨十萬兩珍寶﹒供養此塔﹒以偈讚曰 . . .

[0168a19]　時﹒王捨十萬兩珍寶﹒供養是塔﹒以偈讚曰 . . .

[0168a22] 　. . . 王曰：『以一錢供養。』. . .

then, for 阿難塔 [0168b04] :

[0168b13]　王即捨百億兩珍寶﹒而供養其塔。

十萬兩 is $100,000, while 百億兩 is $10,000,000,000; see the difference?

immediately next, is the sentence of our interest:

時﹒諸臣白王言﹒何故於此布施供養皆悉勝前

at that time (時), statesmen asked the king (諸臣白王言) : "why (何故 ) donate (布施供養) to this one (於此) more than before (皆悉勝前)?".

the king donated difference amount of money to various stupas (塔), ranged from 一錢 to 百億兩 ($10,000,000,000). those statesmen (諸臣) wanted to know why the king donate 百億兩 to 阿難塔 (the stupa of Ānanda), which was significantly more than other donations.

in english, "donate + to" is grammatically correct; so, "於此", is roughly "to this one".

王曰﹒聽吾所說心中所以

the king replied (王曰) : "please listen to (聽) what i say (吾所說), the reason (所以) in my heart (心中)"

the scenario is, statesmen asked why, the king replied, revealing the reason in his heart (mind).

about the suggested "literally translation":

"king say: 'listen i that which speaks heart in reason'"

unfortunately, based on my experience, i would say nope. such suggestion is ignoring the context; and, well, un-literary-chinese, maybe un-chinese interpretation.

have fun :)

Answer 2

聽吾所說心中所以
听吾所说心中所以
Literally: Listen to what I said, in your (somebody's) heart what you (somebody) feel.
If this is a full sentence, it means:
Listen to what I said, that I am thinking.
Listen to that I am saying what I am thinking.
or, in vernacular Chinese:
听我所说的我心中所想的事情

我所说的你都懂了吗？
Do you understand what I said just?

他兴奋的忘乎所以了。
He is such excited that forget what is thinking.

所以 is not a word with the meaning: so, therefor.
所 is a single word here, it is a conjunction.
以 means 以为, 认为, consider, think.

我所说
what I said

你所认为
what you think