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

na muṇḍakena samaṇo abbato alikaṃ bhaṇaṃ

icchālobhasamāpanno samaṇo kiṃ bhavissati

(DhP 264)




Sentence Translation:

One is not to be called a monk just because of his bald head, if one is immoral and speaking lies.
How can someone who has desire and greed be called a monk?




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na muṇḍakena samaṇo  abbato    alikaṃ  bhaṇaṃ
|           |              |             |             |           |
neg.   Adj.        N.m.     Adj.m.     N.n.    Adj.m.
|       Ins.Sg.   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|______|              |             |             |______|
      |                   |             |__________|
      |___________|____________|
               |______|

List of Abbreviations

icchā+lobha+samāpanno samaṇo kiṃ bhavissati
|             |            |               |         |          |
N.f.    N.m.    Adj.m.       N.m.  Adv.   V.act.
|_______|      Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg.   |   3.Sg.pres.
      |___________|               |         |______|
                |______________|________|
                            |_______|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

muṇḍakena: muṇḍaka-, Adj.: bald, shaven (head). Ins.Sg. = muṇḍakena.

samaṇo: samaṇa-, N.m.: a recluse, a wandering ascetic, a monk (not only a Buddhist monk).
Nom.Sg. = samaṇo.

abbato: abbata-, Adj.: immoral, breaking ethic precepts. It is derived from the word vata-, N.m.: religious duty, with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m. = abbato.

alikaṃ: alika-, N.n.: falsehood, lie. Acc.Sg. = alikaṃ.

bhaṇaṃ: bhaṇant-, Adj.: speaking. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root bhaṇ-. Nom.Sg.m. = bhaṇaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

icchālobhasamāpanno: icchālobhasamāpanna-, Adj.: having desire and greed. It is a compound of:
    icchā-, N.f.: desire, longing.
    lobha-, N.m.: greed.
    samāpanna-, Adj.: endowed with, possessed of. It is a p.p. of the verb pad- (to go to, to fall to) preceded by the prefixes sam- (denoting "together" or "completely") and ā- (towards).
Nom.Sg.m. = icchālobhasamāpanno.

samaṇo: see above.

kiṃ: kiṃ-, Inter.Pron.: who. Nom.Sg.n. = kiṃ. Here rather means "how" and should be taken as an adverb.

bhavissati, V.: will be. The verb root is bhū-. 3.Sg.act.fut. = bhavissati.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na muṇḍakena samaṇo abbato alikaṃ bhaṇaṃ (one is not to be called a monk just because of his bald head, if one is immoral and speaking lies). The subject is the adjective abbato (immoral, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the active present participle bhaṇaṃ (speaking, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun alikaṃ (lie, accusative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adjective muṇḍakena (by bald [head], instrumental singular). The object is the noun samaṇo (monk, nominative singular).
    2) icchālobhasamāpanno samaṇo kiṃ bhavissati (how can someone who has desire and greed be called a monk). The subject is the compound icchālobhasamāpanno (having desire and greed, nominative singular). The verb is bhavissati (will be, 3rd person, singular, active, future). It is modified by the interrogative pronoun kiṃ (how). The object is the noun samaṇo (monk, nominative singular).




Commentary:

    There was a monk named Hatthaka. He liked to argue with others. If he was defeated in an argument, he challenged his opponent to meet again at a specified place and time. Hatthaka would get to the place before the appointed time and would declare that the absence of his opponent means he acknowledges his defeat. Therefore he would boast he won the argument.
    When the Buddha heard about this, he admonished Hatthaka by this verse (and the following one, DhP 265).




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
muṇḍakena
samaṇo
abbato
alikaṃ
bhaṇaṃ
icchālobhasamāpanno
icchā
lobha
samāpanno
kiṃ
bhavissati