| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Just like a wrongly taken kusa grass cuts the hand,
wrongly grasped monkshood drags one towards the hell.
kuso yathā
duggahito hattham eva anukantati
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N.m. Rel.Adv. Adj.m.
N.m. part. V.act.in.
Nom.Sg. |
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
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List of Abbreviations
sāmaññaṃ
dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ
nirayāya upakaḍḍhati
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N.n.
Adj.n. N.m.
V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.
Nom.Sg. Dat.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
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kuso: kusa-, N.m.: a kind of sacred grass. Nom.Sg. = kuso.
yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.
duggahito: duggahita-, Adj.: wrongly taken.
It is a compound of:
du-, Pref.: bad, wrong.
gahita-, Adj.: taken, seized,
held. It is a p.p. of the verb root gah- (to hold, to take).
Euphonic combination: du- + gahita- = duggahita-.
Nom.Sg.m. = duggahito.
hattham: hattha-, N.m.: hand. Acc.Sg. = hattham.
eva, part.: just, only.
anukantati, V.: cuts. The verb root is kat-
(to cut) with the prefix anu- (along, at).
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = anukantati.
Euphonic combination: eva + anukantati
= evānukantati.
List of Abbreviations
sāmaññaṃ:
sāmañña-,
N.n.: monkshood. An abstract from samaṇa-,
N.m.: monk, recluse.
Nom.Sg. = sāmaññaṃ.
dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ:
dupparāmaṭṭha-,
Adj.: wrongly touched, wrongly grasped. It is a compound of:
du-, Pref.: bad, wrong.
parāmaṭṭha-,
Adj.: grasped, held. It is a p.p. of the verb root mas- (to touch)
with the prefix parā- (on to, over).
Euphonic combination: du- + parāmaṭṭha-
= dupparāmaṭṭha-.
Nom.Sg.n. = dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ.
nirayāya: niraya-, N.m.: hell. Dat.Sg. = nirayāya.
upakaḍḍhati,
V.: drags to, pulls towards. The verb root is kaḍḍh-
(to drag) with the prefix upa- (towards, to). 3.Sg.act.in.pres.
= upakaḍḍhati.
Euphonic combination: nirayāya
+ upakaḍḍhati = nirayāyupakaḍḍhati.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of two related
sentences. They are:
1) kuso yathā
duggahito hattham evānukantati (just like
a wrongly taken kusa grass cuts the hand). The subject is the noun kuso
(kusa grass, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective duggahito
(wrongly taken, nominative singular). The verb is anukantati (cuts,
3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The
object is the noun hattham (hand, accusative singular). It is stressed
by the particle eva (just). The relative adverb yathā
(just as, like) connects the sentence to the following one.
2) sāmaññaṃ
dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ
nirayāyupakaḍḍhati
(wrongly grasped monkshood drags one towards the hell). The subject is
the noun sāmaññaṃ
(monkshood, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ
(wrongly grasped, nominative singular). The verb is upakaḍḍhati
(drags to, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present
tense). The object is the noun nirayāya
(towards hell, dative singular).
There was a monk who once unintentionally
cut of some plants. He felt very remorseful and confessed to another monk
his offence. This second monk just laughed at him, saying that cutting
of plants is only a very minor offence. To show, what he felt about it,
this monk started to uproot plants around him.
When the Buddha heard about this,
he advised this monk by this verse (and two following one, DhP 312 and
DhP 313) not to think little of minor rules. Plants are also living beings
and should not be destroyed without reason. At first, the monk was obstinate,
but later he realized the importance of the monk's precepts. Thereafter
he followed the moral code strictly and practiced the meditation diligently.
Later he attained the Arahantship.
Word pronunciation:
kuso
yathā
duggahito
hattham
eva
anukantati
sāmaññaṃ
dupparāmaṭṭhaṃ
nirayāya
upakaḍḍhati