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

na naggacariyā na jaṭā na paṅkā

nānāsakā thaṇḍilasāyikā vā

rajo ca jallaṃ ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ

sodhenti maccaṃ avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ

(DhP 141)




Sentence Translation:

Not wandering around naked, not matted hair, not mud on the body,
not fasting, nor lying on the bare ground,
dust and sweat, sitting on one's heels -
nothing can purify a mortal who has not overcome his doubts.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na  nagga+cariyā   na      jaṭā     na    paṅkā
|         |          |        |          |         |         |
neg. Adj.    N.f.    neg.    N.f.    neg.   N.m.
|         |    Nom.Sg.  |    Nom.Sg.   |    Nom.Pl.
|         |______|       |______|         |_____|
|________|                   |                    |
       |_______________|___________|____________________

List of Abbreviations

na    anāsakā thaṇḍila+sāyikā   vā
|            |            |            |         |
neg.    N.f.       N.n.      N.f.    conj.
|      Nom.Sg.      |      Nom.Sg.   |
|_______|            |______|          |
       |                        |_________|
____|__________________|____________________________

List of Abbreviations

rajo          ca    jallaṃ ukkuṭika+ppadhānaṃ
|                |          |          |                |
N.n.       conj.    N.n.    N.m.         N.n.
Nom.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.   |          Nom.Sg.
|_________|          |         |__________|
_____|__________|__________|_________________________

List of Abbreviations

sodhenti    maccaṃ avitiṇṇa+kaṅkhaṃ
|                     |            |             |
V.act.caus.   N.m.     Adj.       N.m.
3.Pl.pres.   Acc.Sg.      |        Acc.Sg.
|                     |            |________|
|                     |___________|
|_________________|
_________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

naggacariyā: naggacariyā-, N.f.: wandering around naked (a popular form of ascetic practice in ancient India). It is a compound of:
    nagga-, Adj.: naked.
    cariyā-, N.f.: wandering. It is derived from the verb car- (to move, to wander about).
Nom.Sg. = naggacariyā.

na: see above.

jaṭā: jaṭā-, N.f.: matted hair (worn by ascetics). Nom.Sg. = jaṭā.

na: see above.

paṅkā: paṅka-, N.m.: mud, dirt (kept on the body as an ascetic practice). Nom.Pl. = paṅkā.

na: see above.

List of Abbreviations

anāsakā: anāsakā-, N.f.: fasting, abstaining from food. It is the word āsaka-, Adj.: having food, negated by the negative prefix an-. Nom.Sg. = anāsakā.
Euphonic combination: na + anāsakā = nānāsakā.

thaṇḍilasāyikā: thaṇḍilasāyikā-, N.f.: lying on the bare ground. It is a compound of:
    thaṇḍila-, N.n.: ground, level place.
    sāyika-, Adj.: lying, sleeping.
Nom.Sg. = thaṇḍilasāyikā.

, conj.: or.

rajo: rajo-, N.n.: dust, dirt. Nom.Sg. = rajo.

ca, conj.: and.

jallaṃ: jalla-, N.n.: sweat, dirt. Nom.Sg. = jallaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ: ukkuṭikappadhāna-, N.n.: practice of sitting on one's heels for a long period of time (an ascetic practice). It is a compound of:
    ukkuṭika-, N.m.: squatting, sitting on one's heels.
    padhāna-, N.n.: exertion, effort, striving.
Euphonic combination: ukkuṭika- + padhāna- = ukkuṭikappadhāna-.
Nom.Sg. = ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ.

sodhenti, V.: make clean, purify. It is a caus. of the verb sujjhati (to become clean; the verb root is sudh-). 3.Pl.act.caus.pres. = sodhenti.

maccaṃ: macca-, N.m.: mortal, a living being. Acc.Sg. = maccaṃ.

avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ: avitiṇṇakaṅkha-, Adj.: who has not overcome doubt. It is the word vitiṇṇakaṅkha-, Adj.: who has overcome doubts, negated by the negative prefix a-. This word is the compound of:
    vitiṇṇa-, Adj.: overcome, crossed. It is a p.p. of the verb root tar- (to cross) with the prefix vi- (over).
    kaṅkhā-, N.f.: doubt, uncertainty.
Acc.Sg.m. = avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    There are eight subjects in this sentence. They are:
    1) naggacariyā (wandering around naked, nominative singular).
    2) jaṭā (matted hair, nominative singular).
    3) paṅkā (mud on the body, nominative plural).
    4) anāsakā (fasting, nominative singular).
    5) thaṇḍilasāyikā (lying on the bare ground, nominative singular). This subject is connected to the other ones by the conjunction (or).
    6) rajo (dust, nominative singular). The conjunction ca (and) connects this subject to the following one.
    7) jallaṃ (sweat, nominative singular).
    8) ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ (sitting on one's heels, nominative singular).
    The verb is sodhenti (clean, 3rd person, plural, active, causative, present tense). It is negated by several negative particles na (not). The object is the noun maccaṃ (a mortal, accusative singular), with its attribute, the adjective compound avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ (who has not overcome his doubts, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    In Sāvatthi there lived a rich man named Bahu Bhāṇḍika. When his wife died, he decided to become a monk. But first he built himself a monastery, brought many servants and provisions of food with him. So even as a monk he lived in comfort and had plenty of delicious food every day.
    When the Buddha heard about this, he admonished the monk, saying that his teaching is about simple life and asked why did he bring so much property with him. The monks became angry and took off his robe, asking the Buddha if this was the way he wanted him to live from now on.
    The Buddha again admonished him, "How come you have lost your sense of shame and fear of evil? Even in your former existence as a hungry ghost you had this sense, where did it go?" The monk realized his mistake and apologized for getting angry and taking off his clothes.
    The Buddha then spoke this verse, saying that austerities and ascetic practices do not make a monk. Only when we discard ignorance can we be really free.
    At the end of this discourse, many monks present attained the first stage of Awakenment.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
naggacariyā
nagga
cariyā
jaṭā
paṅkā
anāsakā
thaṇḍilasāyikā
thaṇḍila
sāyikā

rajo
ca
jallaṃ
ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ
ukkuṭika
padhānaṃ
sodhenti
maccaṃ
avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ
vitiṇṇa
kaṅkhaṃ