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

na taṃ daḷhaṃ bandhanam āhu dhīrā

yad āyasaṃ dārujaṃ babbajaṃ ca

sārattarattā maṇikuṇḍalesu

puttesu dāresu ca yā apekkhā

(DhP 345)




Sentence Translation:

That fetter is not really strong, say the wise,
that is made of iron, wood or grass.
Strong infatuation with gems and ornaments,
whatever longing there is for sons and wives,
[continued in DhP 346]




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na     taṃ       daḷhaṃ bandhanam  āhu        dhīrā
|           |              |             |             |              |
neg. Pron.n.    Adj.n.      N.n.      V.act.      Adj.m.
|      Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Pl.perf. Nom.Pl.
|           |________|_______|             |________|
|                  |____|                                  |
|____________|                                      |
            |___________________________|________________
                                    |______________|

List of Abbreviations

yad          āyasaṃ dārujaṃ babbajaṃ   ca
|                    |            |             |           |
Pron.n.     Adj.n.    Adj.n.     Adj.n.   conj.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.    |
|                    |_______|_______|           |
|                                        |__________|
|____________________________|
______________|

List of Abbreviations

sāratta+rattā  maṇi+kuṇḍalesu
|              |         |           |
Adj.     N.f.    N.m.    N.m.
|       Nom.Sg.    |      Loc.Pl.
|________|         |______|
        |____________|
                   |______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

puttesu dāresu    ca         yā        apekkhā
|                |         |            |               |
N.m.      N.m.  conj. Rel.Pron.f.    N.f.
Loc.Pl. Loc.Pl.    |      Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg.
|_________|         |            |               |
         |_________|            |                |
                  |___________|_________|
                             |_____|
___________________|
                |___________________________________[continued in DhP 346]




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

taṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.n. = taṃ.

daḷhaṃ: daḷha-, Adj.: strong, resolute, firm. Nom.Sg.n. = daḷhaṃ.

bandhanam: bandhana-, N.n.: bond, fetter. Derived from the verb bandh- (to bind, to fasten). Nom.Sg. = bandhanam.

āhu, V.: said, proclaimed. The verb root is ah- (to speak). 3.Pl.act.perf. = āhu.

dhīrā: dhīra-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Pl.m. = dhīrā.

yad: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.n. = yad.

List of Abbreviations

āyasaṃ: āyasa-, Adj.: made of iron. It is derived from the word ayo-, N.n.: iron. Nom.Sg.n. = āyasaṃ.

dārujaṃ: made of wood, wooden. It is derived from the word dāru-, N.n.: wood with the suffix -ja. This suffix is derived from the verb root jan- (to give birth, to produce). Nom.Sg.n. = dārujaṃ.

babbajaṃ: babbaja-, Adj.: made of the babbaja grass. It is derived from the word babbaja- N.m.: a sort of coarse grass or reed. Nom.Sg.n. = babbajaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

sārattarattā: sārattarattā-, N.f.: strong infatuation with, attachment to. It is a compound of:
    sāratta-, Adj.: devoted, attached. It is a p.p. of the verb root raj- (to color) with the prefix saṃ- (together).
    ratta-, Adj.: excited, infatuated. It is a p.p. of the verb root raj- (to color).
Nom.Sg. = sārattarattā.

List of Abbreviations

maṇikuṇḍalesu: maṇikuṇḍala-, N.m.: gems and ornaments. It is a compound of:
    maṇi-, N.m.: gem, crystal.
    kuṇḍala-, N.m.: earring, ornament.
Loc.Pl. = maṇikuṇḍalesu.

puttesu: putta-, N.m.: son. Loc.Pl. = puttesu.

dāresu: dāra-, N.m.: wife. Loc.Pl. = dāresu.

ca: see above.

: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.f. = .

apekkhā: apekkhā-, N.f.: affection, desire, longing for. It is derived from the verb root īkh- (to look) with the prefix apa- (down, on). Nom.Sg. = apekkhā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two separate sentences. They are:
    1) na taṃ daḷhaṃ bandhanam āhu dhīrā yad āyasaṃ dārujaṃ babbajaṃ ca (that fetter is not really strong, say the wise, that is made of iron, wood or grass). This can be analysed into two segments:
    a) āhu dhīrā (say the wise). The subject is the adjective dhīrā (wise ones, nominative plural). The verb is āhu (said, 3rd person, plural, active, perfect tense).
    b) na taṃ daḷhaṃ bandhanam yad āyasaṃ dārujaṃ babbajaṃ ca (that fetter is not really strong, that is made of iron, wood or grass). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
    I) na taṃ daḷhaṃ bandhanam (that fetter is not really strong). The subject is the noun bandhanam (fetter, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun taṃ (that, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective daḷhaṃ (strong, nominative singular).
    II) yad āyasaṃ dārujaṃ babbajaṃ ca (that is made of iron, wood or grass). There are three subjects, the adjectives āyasaṃ (made of iron, nominative singular), dārujaṃ (wooden, nominative singular) and babbajaṃ (made of babbaja grass, nomaitnvie singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The relative adverb yad (that which, nominative singular) connects this sentence to the previous one.
    2) sārattarattā maṇikuṇḍalesu puttesu dāresu ca yā apekkhā (strong infatuation with gems and ornaments, whatever longing there is for sons and wives). There are two subjects in this sentence: a) the compound sārattarattā (strong infatuation, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound maṇikuṇḍalesu (with gems and ornaments, locative plural). b) the noun apekkhā (longing, nominative singular). This word has two attributes, the nouns puttesu (for sons, locative plural) and dāresu (to wives, locative plural). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The relative pronoun (that which, nominative singular) connects the sentence to the following one (DhP 346).




Commentary:

    A group of monks once went to the city of Sāvatthi for almsfood. On their way they observed some prisoners being led with their hands and legs chained in bonds. When they returned to the monastery they related the matter to the Buddha.
    The Buddha spoke this verse (and the following one, DhP 346) and explained that passion and craving were much stronger fetters than all the chains and handcuffs.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
taṃ
daḷhaṃ
bandhanam
āhu
dhīrā
yad
āyasaṃ
dārujaṃ
babbajaṃ
ca
sārattarattā
sāratta
rattā
maṇikuṇḍalesu
maṇi
kuṇḍalesu
puttesu
dāresu

apekkhā