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

yassa pure ca pacchā ca majjhe ca natthi kiñcanaṃ

akiñcanaṃ anādānaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ

(DhP 421)




Sentence Translation:

For whom there is nothing before, after or now,
One who is without attachments and without clinging - him do I call a Brahmin.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yassa           pure   ca  pacchā ca    majjhe  ca    na      atthi     kiñcanaṃ
|                      |       |        |       |         |         |       |          |             |
Rel.Pron.m. Adv.  conj. Adv. conj.   Adj.   conj. neg. V.act.in.   Pron.n.
Gen.Sg.           |____|        |____|     Loc.Sg.  |       |    3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
|                          |                |            |_____|       |______|             |
|                          |_________|__________|                 |                  |
|                                                     |______________|                  |
|_____________________________________|_________________|
                                    |_________________|
                                                    |____________________________________

List of Abbreviations

akiñcanaṃ anādānaṃ tam     ahaṃ       brūmi  brāhmaṇaṃ
|                       |           |           |               |             |
Adj.m         Adj.m.  Pron.m.  Pron.     V.act.in.    N.m.
Acc.Sg.       Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|_____________|           |           |               |             |
            |_____________|          |               |              |
                       |_____________|________|________|
                                               |     |_____|
                                               |______|
_____________________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yassa: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Gen.Sg.m. = yassa (whose).

pure, Adv.: before, formerly.

ca, conj.: and.

pacchā, Adv.: afterwards, after that, later.

majjhe: majjha-, Adj.: middle. Here: present (in the middle between the past and the future). Loc.Sg. = majjhe.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

List of Abbreviations

kiñcanaṃ: kiñcana-, Pron.n.: something, anything. Nom.Sg. = kiñcanaṃ.

akiñcanaṃ: akiñcana-, Adj.: having nothing [i.e. having no attachments]. It is the word kiñcana-, N.n.: something, anything with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.m. = akiñcanaṃ.

anādānaṃ: anādāna-, Adj.: free from clinging. It is the word ādāna-, N.n.: attachment, clinging (this word is derived from the verb dā-, to give with the prefix ā-, towards; the meaning of the verb is "to take, to grasp") negated by the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg.m. = anādānaṃ.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaṃ, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaṃ.

brūmi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is brū-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brūmi.

brāhmaṇaṃ: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brāhmaṇaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
    1) yassa pure ca pacchā ca majjhe ca natthi kiñcanaṃ (for whom there is nothing before, after or now). The subject is the pronoun kiñcanaṃ (something, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the relative pronoun yassa (whose, genitive singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has three attributes, the adverbs pure (before) and pacchā (after) and the adjective majjhe (now, in the middle, locative singular). They are connected by three conjunctions ca (and).
    2) akiñcanaṃ anādānaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ (who is without attachments and without clinging - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject of this sentence is the pronoun ahaṃ (I, nominative singular). The verb is brūmi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brāhmaṇaṃ (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has three attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the adjectives akiñcanaṃ (without attachments, accusative singular) and anādānaṃ (without clinging, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    A man named Visākha from Sāvatthi heard a discourse of the Buddha and attained the third stage of Awakenment. He asked his wife Dhammadinnā for permission to become a monk. His wife did not accept his property, but instead decided to become a nun. Soon she attained the Arahantship.
    Once the former husband and wife met and discussed the Dharma. Dhammadinnā would gladly discuss with him everything up to and including the third stage of Awakenment. But she would not talk about the full Arahantship, because, as she said, Visākha has not attained this yet.
    The Buddha then confirmed with this verse that Dhammadinnā had attained the Awakenment.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yassa
pure
ca
pacchā
majjhe
na
atthi
kiñcanaṃ
akiñcanaṃ
anādānaṃ
tam
ahaṃ
brūmi
brāhmaṇaṃ