| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
They are ashamed of what is not shameful. They are not
ashamed of what is shameful.
Believing in wrong theories, the beings go to a miserable
existence.
alajjitāye lajjanti
lajjitāye na
lajjare
|
| |
| |
Adj.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. neg.
V.med.in.
Loc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Loc.Sg. |
3.Pl.pres.
|__________|
| |______|
|_________|
List of Abbreviations
micchā+diṭṭhi+samādānā
sattā gacchanti duggatiṃ
|
|
| |
|
|
Adv. N.f.
Adj.m. N.m. V.act.in.
N.f.
|________|
Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Acc.Sg.
|____________|
|
|________|
|_____________|
|
|__________________|
alajjitāye: alajjitāya-, Adj: what one should not be ashamed of, what is not shameful. It is the word lajjitāya-, Adj. (what one should be ashamed of, what is shameful; it is a grd. of the verb root lajj-, see below) negated by the negative prefix a-. Loc.Sg.m. = alajjitāye.
lajjanti, V.: are ashamed, are abashed. The verb root is lajj-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = lajjanti.
lajjitāye: lajjitāya-, Adj.: what one should be ashamed of, what is shameful. See above under alajjitāya-. Loc.Sg.m. = lajjitāye.
na, neg.: not.
lajjare, V.: are ashamed, are abashed. The verb root is lajj-. 3.Pl.med.in.pres. = lajjare.
List of Abbreviations
micchādiṭṭhisamādānā:
micchādiṭṭhisamādāna-,
Adj.: believing in a wrong theory. It is a compound of:
micchā,
Adv.: wrongly, badly.
diṭṭhi-,
N.f.: view, belief, theory, idea. It is derived from the verb root dis-
(to see).
samādāna-,
N.m.: undertaking, taking upon oneself. The verb root is dā-
(to give) with the prefixes sam- (completely) and ā-
(towards).
Nom.Pl.m. = micchādiṭṭhisamādānā.
sattā: satta-, N.m.: being. Nom.Pl. = sattā.
gacchanti, V.: goes. The verb root is gam-. 3.Pl.in.act.pres. = gacchanti.
duggatiṃ: duggati-,
N.f.: a miserable existence, a realm of misery, undesirable rebirth. Composed
of:
du-, pref.: bad, difficult.
gati-, N.f.: existence, rebirth.
Derived from the verb gam- (to go).
Acc.Sg. = duggatiṃ.
List of Abbreviations
This verse consists of three syntactically
separate sentences. They are:
1) alajjitāye
lajjanti (they are ashamed of what is not shameful). The subject is
omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is
lajjanti (are ashamed, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative,
present tense). The object is the gerund alajjitāye
(of what is not shameful, locative singular).
2) lajjitāye
na lajjare (they are not ashamed of what is shameful). The subject
is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb
is lajjare (are ashamed, 3rd person, plural, medium,
indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na
(not). The object is the gerund lajjitāye
(of what is shameful, locative singular).
3) micchādiṭṭhisamādānā
sattā gacchanti duggatiṃ
(believing in wrong theories, the beings go to a miserable existence).
The subject is the noun sattā (beings,
nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective compound micchādiṭṭhisamādānā
(believing in wrong theories, nominative plural). The verb is gacchanti
(go, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
The object is the noun duggatiṃ (to
a miserable existence, accusative singular).
A group of monks once saw some naked
ascetics on their almsround. They were naked but they had their bowls covered
with a piece of cloth. The monks remarked that perhaps they should put
the cloth on the front part of the body. The naked ascetics retorted that
they cover their bowls because they do not want insect and miniature life-form
to enter the bowl and be killed by them later.
The monks returned to the monastery
and told the story to the Buddha. The Buddha reacted with this verse (and
the following one, DhP 317), saying that one who is ashamed of what is
not shameful, but not ashamed of a shameful thing, surely will undergo
a bad rebirth.
Word pronunciation:
alajjitāye
lajjanti
lajjitāye
na
lajjare
micchādiṭṭhisamādānā
micchā
diṭṭhi
samādānā
sattā
gacchanti
duggatiṃ