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

jhāyiṃ virajam āsīnaṃ katakiccam anāsavaṃ

uttamattham anuppattaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ

(DhP 386)




Sentence Translation:

Who is meditating, stainless, settled, has done his duty, is without taints,
has reached the highest attainment - him do I call a Brahmin.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

jhāyiṃ    virajam  āsīnaṃ   kata+kiccam anāsavaṃ
|                  |             |          |          |             |
Adj.m.    Adj.m.   Adj.m.   Adj.  Adj.m.    Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.     |    Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.
|                  |             |          |______|            |
|__________|_______|_________|__________|_______________________

List of Abbreviations

uttama+attham anuppattaṃ  tam      ahaṃ       brūmi  brāhmaṇaṃ
|                |             |             |            |               |              |
Adj.       N.n.      Adj.m.   Pron.m.   Pron.     V.act.in.     N.m.
|          Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.  Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres.  Acc.Sg.
|_________|             |             |            |               |              |
        |____________|             |            |               |              |
__________|______________|            |               |              |
                               |______________|________|________|
                                                         |       |____|
                                                         |______|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

jhāyiṃ: jhāyin-, Adj.m.: meditating. Derived from the verb jhe- (to meditate). Acc.Sg.m. = jhāyiṃ.

virajam: viraja-, Adj.: dustless, stainless, clean. It is the word rajo-, N.m. (dust, dirt) with the prefix vi- (away from, without). Acc.Sg.m. = virajam.

āsīnaṃ: āsīna-, Adj.: settled, lit. "sitting". It is a p.p. of the verb ās- (to sit). Acc.Sg.m. = āsīnaṃ.

katakiccam: katakicca-, Adj.: who has done what ought to be done, who has done his duty. It is a compound of:
    kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do).
    kicca-, Adj.: must be done, ought to be done. It is a grd. of the verb kar- (to do).
Acc.Sg.m. = katakiccam.

anāsavaṃ: anāsava-, Adj.: without taints. It is the word āsava- N.m.: taint, corruption; negated by the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg.m. = anāsavaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

uttamattham: uttamattha-, N.n.: the highest attainment. It is a compound of:
    uttama-, Adj.: highest, noble.
    attha-, N.n.: welfare, attainment. Here in the sense of "spiritual attainment".
Euphonic combination: uttama- + attha- = uttamattha-.
Acc.Sg. = uttamattham.

anuppattaṃ: anupatta-, Adj.: reached, attained. It is a p.p. of the verb root āp- (to get, to obtain) with the prefixes anu- (at, to) and pa- (strengthening). Acc.Sg.m. = anuppattaṃ.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaṃ, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaṃ.

brūmi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is brū-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brūmi.

brāhmaṇaṃ: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brāhmaṇaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    The subject is the pronoun ahaṃ (I, nominative singular). The verb is brūmi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brāhmaṇaṃ (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has seven attributes:
    1) the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular),
    2) the adjective jhāyiṃ (meditating, accusative singular),
    3) the adjective virajam (stainless, accusative singular),
    4) the past participle āsīnaṃ (settled, accusative singular),
    5) the compound katakiccam (who has done his duty, accusative singular),
    6) the adjective anāsavaṃ (without taints, accusative singular),
    7) the past participle anuppattaṃ (reached, accusative singular). This word has its own attribute, the compound uttamatthaṃ (the highest attainment, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    Once a certain Brahmin thought that the Buddha always called his disciples "Brahmins" even though they were not Brahmins by caste. So he went to the Buddha and asked what he meant by "Brahmin". The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that one does not become a Brahmin by birth, but only by long and diligent practice of the Dharma.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

jhāyiṃ
virajam
āsīnaṃ
katakiccam
kata
kiccaṃ
anāsavaṃ
uttamattham
uttama
atthaṃ
anuppattaṃ
tam
ahaṃ
brūmi
brāhmaṇaṃ