| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
What should be done - is rejected. What should not be
done - that is being done.
Taints of those, who are proud and negligent, surely
grow.
yaṃ
hi kiccaṃ apaviddhaṃ
akiccaṃ pana kayirati
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Pron.n. part. Adj.n.
Adj.n. Adj.n.
part. V.pas.in.
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
3.Sg.pres.
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List of Abbreviations
unnaḷānaṃ
pamattānaṃ tesaṃ
vaḍḍhanti āsavā
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Adj.m.
Adj.m. Pron.m. V.act.in. N.m.
Gen.Pl.
Gen.Pl. Gen.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl.
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yaṃ: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Nom.Sg.n.: yaṃ.
hi, part.: indeed.
kiccaṃ: kicca-,
Adj.: must be done, ought to be done. It is a grd. of the verb kar-
(to do).
Nom.Sg.n. = kiccaṃ.
apaviddhaṃ: apaviddha-, Adj.: thrown away, discarded, rejected. It is a p.p. of the verb root vidh- (to strike, to pierce), with the prefix apa- (away). Nom.Sg.n. = apavidhaṃ.
akiccaṃ: akicca-, Adj.: what should not be done. It is the word kicca-, N.n. (duty, what ought to be done; it is a grd. of the verb kar-, to do), negated by the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.n. = akiccaṃ.
pana, part.: indeed.
List of Abbreviations
kayirati, V.: is being done. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = kayirati.
unnaḷānaṃ: unnaḷa-, Adj.: proud, insolent, haughty, showing off. Gen.Pl.m. = unnaḷānaṃ.
pamattānaṃ: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect). Gen.Pl.m. = pamattānaṃ.
tesaṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Gen.Pl.m. = tesaṃ.
vaḍḍhanti, V.: grow. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhanti.
āsavā: āsava- N.m.: taint, corruption. Nom.Pl. = āsavā. Traditionally, these four taints (āsava) are mentioned in the texts: sense desire (kāma), desiring eternal existence (bhava), wrong views (diṭṭhi) and ignorance (avijjā).
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of three syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) yaṃ
hi kiccaṃ apaviddhaṃ
(what should be done - is rejected). The subject is the adjective kiccaṃ
(what should be done, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the relative
pronoun yaṃ (that, which, nominative
singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is
the past participle apaviddhaṃ (rejected,
nominative singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for
metrical purposes.
2) akiccaṃ
pana kayirati (what should not be done - that is being done). The subject
is the adjective akiccaṃ (what should
not be done, nominative singular). The verb is in passive, kayirati
(is being done, 3rd person, singular, passive, indicative, present
tense). The particle pana (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
3) unnaḷānaṃ
pamattānaṃ tesaṃ
vaḍḍhanti āsavā
(taints of those, who are proud and negligent, surely grow). The subject
is the noun āsavā
(taints, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the pronoun tesaṃ
(their, genitive plural). This word has two attributes, the adjectives
unnaḷānaṃ
(of insolent ones, genitive plural) and pamattānaṃ
(of negligent ones, genitive plural). The verb is vaḍḍhanti
(grow, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
In Bhaddiya there was a monastery with
many monks. There was a sort of competition amongst these monks: who will
make more beautiful ornamental slippers to wear. As a result of this, they
neglected their meditation and they made no progress in spiritual matters.
The matter was reported to the Buddha
who admonished the monks from Bhaddiya. He told them this verse (and the
following one, DhP 293). The monks realized the error of their ways and
from that time on strove diligently to reach the Awakenment.
Word pronunciation:
yaṃ
hi
kiccaṃ
apaviddhaṃ
akiccaṃ
pana
kayirati
unnaḷānaṃ
pamattānaṃ
tesaṃ
vaḍḍhanti
āsavā