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

salābhaṃ nātimaññeyya nāññesaṃ pihayaṃ care

aññesaṃ pihayaṃ bhikkhu samādhiṃ nādhigacchati

(DhP 365)




Sentence Translation:

One should not neglect one's own spiritual gain. One should not envy others.
The monk who envies others will not attain concentration.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sa+lābhaṃ   na atimaññeyya   na aññesaṃ pihayaṃ     care
|          |         |          |              |         |             |             |
Adj. N.m.   neg.  V.act.         neg. Adj.m.    Adj.m.    V.act.
|     Acc.Sg.   |    3.Sg.opt.        |    Gen.Pl.  Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|______|        |______|             |_____|________|_______|
      |___________|                            |      |____|
                                                       |______|

List of Abbreviations

aññesaṃ pihayaṃ bhikkhu samādhiṃ  na adhigacchati
|                   |             |             |          |            |
Adj.m.     Adj.m.     N.m.      N.m.    neg.   V.act.in.
Gen.Pl.   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.     |     3.Sg.pres.
|___________|            |             |           |_______|
           |____________|             |__________|
                      |___________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

salābhaṃ: salābha-, N.m.: one's own profit. It is a compound of:
    sa-, Adj.: own.
    lābha-, N.m.: gain, profit. It is derived from the verb root labh- (to obtain).
Acc.Sg. = salābhaṃ.

na, neg.: not.

atimaññeyya, V.: [one should] disregard, neglect. The verb root is man- (to think) with the prefix ati- (over, beyond). 3.Sg.act.opt. = atimaññeyya.
Euphonic combination: na + atimaññeyya = nātimaññeyya.

na, neg.: not.

aññesaṃ: añña-, Adj.: other, different. Gen.Pl.m. = aññesaṃ.
Euphonic combination: na + aññesaṃ = nāññesaṃ.

pihayaṃ: pihayant-, Adj.: envying, coveting. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root pih-.
Nom.Sg.m. = pihayaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

care, V.: [one] should act. The verb root is car- (to walk, to act). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.

aññesaṃ: see above.

pihayaṃ: see above.

bhikkhu: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Nom.Sg. = bhikkhu.

samādhim: samādhi-, N.m.: concentration, firmness of mind. It is derived from the verb root dhā-, to put, with the prefixes saṃ-, together and ā-, towards. Acc.Sg. = samādhim.

na, neg.: not.

adhigacchati, V.: find, obtain. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefix adhi- (above, towards). 3.Sg.act.pres.in. = adhigacchati.
Euphonic combination: na + adhigacchati = nādhigacchati.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) salābhaṃ nātimaññeyya (one should not neglect one's own spiritual gain). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is atimaññeyya (one should neglect, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound salābhaṃ (one's own [spiritual] gain, accusative singular).
    2) nāññesaṃ pihayaṃ care (one should not envy others). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is care (one should act, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the active present participle pihayaṃ (envying, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the adjective aññesaṃ (others', genitive singular).
    3) aññesaṃ pihayaṃ bhikkhu samādhiṃ nādhigacchati (the monk who envies others will not attain concentration). The subject is the noun bhikkhu (monk, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the active present participle pihayaṃ (envying, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the adjective aññesaṃ (others', genitive singular). The verb is adhigacchati (attains, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun samādhiṃ (concentration, accusative singular).




Commentary:

Devadatta was the Buddha's cousin, He envied the Buddha his position and even though he himself was not an Arahant he tried to form his own separate school in opposition to the Buddha.
    Once a certain monk of the Buddha went to the Devadatta's monastery and appeared to be very friendly with the monks who lived there. He went there often, eating and enjoying that comfortable monastery. But still he claimed he did not become a follower of Devadatta. When the Buddha heard about this, he summoned the monk and told him this verse (and the following one, DhP 366) saying that he should not envy Devadatta's followers their comfort but should rather concentrate on his own meditation practice.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

salābhaṃ
sa
lābhaṃ
na
atimaññeyya
aññesaṃ
pihayaṃ
care
bhikkhu
samādhim
adhigacchati