| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Speak truth; don't get angry; when asked, give, even a
little.
By these three means one will go to the presence of gods.
saccaṃ bhaṇe
na kujjheyya dajjā
appam pi yācito
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N.n. V.act.
neg. V.act. V.act.
Adj.m. part. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. | 3.Sg.opt.
3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
etehi tīhi
ṭhānehi
gacche devāna santike
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Pron.n. Num. N.n.
V.act. N.m. N.n.
Ins.Pl. Ins.Pl. Ins.Pl. 3.Sg.opt. Gen.Pl. Loc.Pl.
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saccaṃ: sacca-, N.n.: truth. Acc.Sg. = saccaṃ.
bhaṇe, V.: should speak. The verb root is bhaṇ-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = bhaṇe.
na, neg.: not.
kujjheyya, V.: should be angry. The verb root is kujjh-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = kujjheyya.
dajjā, V.: should give. The verb root is dā-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = dajjā.
appam: appa-, Adj.: little, few. Acc.Sg.m. = appam.
pi, conj.: also.
List of Abbreviations
yācito: yācita-, Adj.: begged, asked for. It is a p.p. of the verb root yāc-. Nom.Sg.m. = yācito.
etehi: etad-, Pron.: this. Ins.Pl. = etehi.
tīhi: ti-, Num.: three. Ins.Pl. = tīhi.
ṭhānehi:
thāna-, N.n.: place, condition, state.
It is derived from the verb root ṭhā-
(to stay).
Ins.Pl. = ṭhānehi.
gacche, V.: should go, let him go. The verb root is gam- (to go). 3.Sg.act.opt. = gacche.
devāna: deva-, N.m.: god, deity. Gen.Pl. = devāna (instead of the more usual devānaṃ).
santike: santika-, N.n.: presence, vicinity. Loc.Sg. = santike.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of four syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) saccaṃ
bhaṇe (speak truth). The subject is omitted;
the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is bhaṇe
([one] should speak, 3rd person, singular, active, optative).
The object is the noun saccaṃ (truth,
accusative singular).
2) na kujjheyya (don't get
angry). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular
pronoun. The verb is kujjheyya ([one] should get angry, 3rd
person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle
na (not).
3) dajjā
appam pi yācito (when asked, give, even
a little). The subject is the past participle yācito
(asked, nominative singular). The verb is dajjā
([one] should give, 3rd person, singular, active, optative).
The object is the adjective appam (little, accusative singular).
It is modified by the particle pi (even).
4) etehi tīhi
ṭhānehi gacche
devāna santike (by these three means one
will go to the presence of gods). The subject is omitted; the verb implies
the third person singular pronoun. The verb is gacche ([one] would
go, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute,
the noun ṭhānehi
(by means, instrumental plural). This word has also an attribute, the numeral
tīhi (by three, instrumental plural),
with its attribute, the pronoun etehi (by these, instrumental plural).
The object is the noun santike (to the presence, locative singular).
The noun devāna (of gods, genitive
plural) is an attribute to the object.
Venerable Moggallāna
once visited the heaven world and asked the gods what good deeds had they
done to be reborn in such happy state. Different gods had different answers.
One was reborn as a god only because he always spoke truth. Another goddess
said that she was a servant who never got angry with her master and never
hated him, although he beat and abused her. Some gods replied they offered
what little they could for the benefit of others.
Moggallāna
returned back and asked the Buddha if it was really possible to be reborn
as a god just by these deeds. The Buddha confirmed it and spoke this verse,
saying even little good deeds lead to heaven.
Word pronunciation:
saccaṃ
bhaṇe
na
kujjheyya
dajjā
appam
pi
yācito
etehi
tīhi
ṭhānehi
gacche
devāna
santike