Gāthā Sentence Translation Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar Commentary Pronunciation
List of Abbreviations

mameva kataṃ maññantu gihī pabbajitā ubho

mamevātivasā assu kiccākiccesu kismici

iti bālassa saṅkappo icchā māno ca vaḍḍhati

(DhP 74)



Sentence Translation:

"Let both householders and monks think that it was done by me,
let them be under my will, in whatever duties."

Such are fool's thoughts. His desire and pride grows.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

mama eva   kataṃ  maññantu   gihī   pabbajitā    ubho
|            |         |             |            |            |              |

Pron.  part.  Adj.n.    V.act.     N.m.      N.m.      Adj.m.

Gen.Sg. |    Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.imp. Nom.Sg. Nom.Pl. Nom.Du.

|_______|        |             |            |_______|              |

       |________|             |                   |___________|

               |___________|                             |

                         |______________________|

                                             |______________________________________

List of Abbreviations

mama eva  ativasā      assu  kicca+akiccesu kismici
|            |        |              |        |           |           |

Pron.  part. Adj.m.    V.act.  N.n.    N.n.    Pron.n.

Gen.Sg. |    Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.opt.  |     Loc.Pl.  Loc.Sg.

|_______|       |              |         |______|           |

      |________|              |               |_________|

             |____________|_____________|

                            |____|

__________________|

List of Abbreviations

iti     bālassa saṅkappo   icchā      māno     ca   vaḍḍhati
    |        |            |              |             |          |          |

part.   N.m.     N.m.        N.f.       N.m.   conj.  V.act.in.

    |   Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.   |     3.Sg.pres.

__|        |_______|             |________|_____|          |

  |_________|                               |_____________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

mama: aham, Pron.: I. Gen.Sg. = mama.

eva, part.: just, only.
Euphonic combination: mama + eva = mameva.

kataṃ: kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do). Acc.Sg.n. = kataṃ.

maññantu, V.: let them think. The verb root is man- (to think).
3.Pl.act.imp. = maññantu.

gihī: gihin-, N.m.: householder, lay follower. Derived from the word gaha-, N.m.: house, by adding the possessive suffix -in. Nom.Sg. = gihī.

List of Abbreviations

pabbajitā: pabbajita-, Adj.: One who has "gone forth" from home and became a monk. It is a p.p. of the verb pabbajati (to go forth). Nom.Pl.m. = pabbajitā.

ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Nom.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.

mama: see above.

eva: see above.

ativasā: ativasa-, Adj.: under one's will, dependent upon. It is the word vasa-, N.m: power, control, will, with the prefix ati- (according to, up to). Nom.Pl.m. = ativasā.
Euphonic combination mama + eva + ativasā = mamevātivasā.

List of Abbreviations

assu: may they be. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Pl.act.opt = assu.

kiccākiccesu: kiccākicca-, Adj. and N.n.: all kinds of duties, various duties. It is a compound of:
    kicca-, N.n.: duty, what ought to be done. It is a grd. of the verb kar- (to do).

    akicca-, N.n.: negated (by the negative prefix a-) word kicca- (see above).

The meaning of the compound is not "what is duty and what is not", but rather "all kinds of duties".

Loc.Pl. = kiccākiccesu.

kismici: kiñci-, Pron.: whatever. Loc.Sg.n. = kismici.

iti, part.: a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech. In English this is expressed by quotation marks. Sometimes it is written as ti.

bālassa: bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person.
Gen.Sg. = bālassa.

List of Abbreviations

saṅkappo: saṅkappa-, N.m.: thought, intention. Nom.Sg. = saṅkappo.

icchā: icchā-, N.f.: desire, longing. Nom.Sg. = icchā.

māno: māna-, N.m.: pride, conceit. Nom.Sg. = māno.

ca, conj.: and.

vaḍḍhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhati.

List of Abbreviations

    There are basically two main sentences in this verse. The second of them is icchā māno ca vaḍḍhati (desire and pride grows). Here, the subject is double, the nouns icchā (desire, nominative singular) and māno (pride, nominative singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The verb is vaḍḍhati (grows, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
    The rest of this verse forms the first sentence. It can be further divided into the main sentence and the direct speech. The main sentence is iti bālassa saṅkappo (such is fool's thought). Here the subject is the noun saṅkappo (thought, nominative singular). It has the noun bālassa (fool's, genitive singular) as an attribute. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The particle iti (end of the direct speech) introduces the sentence and connects it to the direct speech.

    The direct speech can be subdivided into two sentences. They form the first and second lines of the verse respectively.

    In the first sentence, the subject is double, the nouns gihī (householder, nominative singular) and pabbajitā (monks, nominative plural). They are connected by the adjective ubho (both, nominative dual). The verb is maññantu (let them think, 3rd person, plural, active, imperative). The object is the adjective kataṃ (done, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun mama (my, genitive singular) that is strengthened by the particle eva (just, only).

    In the second part of the direct speech, the subject is omitted, implying the subject from the previous sentence (gihī, pabbajitā). It has an attribute, the adjective ativasā (under [my] will, nominative plural). This word has itself two attributes, the pronoun mama (my, genitive singular) that is strengthened by the particle eva (just, only). The second attribute is the adjective/noun kiccākiccesu (in all duties, locative plural) with its attribute, the indefinite pronoun kismici (in whatever, locative singular). The verb is assu (may they be, 3rd person, plural, active, optative).



Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with the story for the previous one, as they actually form two parts of one rather long verse (see DhP 73).
    As with the monk Sudhamma in the story, if we become too attached to our surroundings, if we identify ourselves with it, our desires will grow. If we feel that only we know how to do things and if we expect everybody to follow our leadership in whatever has to be done, our pride will only increase. Needles to say, desire and pride are hindrances on the way to Awakenment.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mameva
mama

eva

kataṃ

maññantu

gihī

pabbajitā

ubho

mamevātivasā

ativasā

assu

kiccākiccesu

kicca

akiccesu

kismici

iti

bālassa

saṅkappo

icchā

māno

ca

vaḍḍhati