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

na brāhmaṇassetad akiñci seyyo

yadā nisedho manaso piyehi

yato yato hiṃsamano nivattati

tato tato sammatimeva dukkhaṃ

(DhP 390)




Sentence Translation:

For a Brahmin, there is nothing better
than when he is holding the mind back from agreeable things.
When one turns away from a wish to hurt,
then one just calms down the suffering.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na brāhmaṇassa  etad       akiñci      seyyo
|              |             |             |              |
neg.     N.m.     Pron.n.   Pron.n.    Adj.n.
|         Dat.Sg.  Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.
|________|             |_______|              |
        |                           |___________|
        |_____________________|
                          |_________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

yadā       nisedho   manaso  piyehi
|                   |             |           |
Rel.Adv.  Adj.m.     N.n.    Adj.m.
|             Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg.  Ins.Pl.
|                   |             |______|
|                   |__________|
|_______________|
________|

List of Abbreviations

yato          yato    hiṃsa+mano   nivattati
|                  |           |          |             |
Rel.Adv. Rel.Adv. N.f.    N.n.    V.act.in.
|__________|           |    Gen.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
          |                    |_____|              |
          |                        |___________|
          |___________________|
                          |__________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

tato    tato   sammati    eva dukkhaṃ
|           |            |           |           |
Adv. Adv.   V.act.in.  part.     N.n.
|______|     3.Sg.pres.    |      Acc.Sg.
      |                 |______|            |
      |                       |__________|
      |__________________|
____________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

brāhmaṇassa: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Dat.Sg. = brāhmaṇassa.

etad: etad-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.n. = etad.
Euphonic combination: brāhmaṇassa + etad = brāhmaṇassetad.

akiñci: akiñci-, Pron.: nothing. It is the word kiñci-, Pron. (something) negated by the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.n. = akiñci.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

yadā, Rel.Adv.: when.

List of Abbreviations

nisedho: nisedha-, Adj.: restraining, holding back. Nom.Sg.m. = nisedho.

manaso: manas-, N.n.: mind. Gen.Sg. = manaso.

piyehi: piya-, Adj.: dear, agreeable. Ins.Pl.m. = piyehi.

yato, Rel.Adv.: whence, since, from which time.

yato: see above. The repetition yato yato: whenever.

hiṃsamano: hiṃsamano-, N.n.: wish to hurt. It is a compound of:
    hiṃsā-, N.f.: hurt, injury, killing. It is derived from the verb root hiṃs- (to hurt). The compound form: hiṃsa-.
    mano-, N.n.: mind.
Gen.Sg.m. = hiṃsamano.

List of Abbreviations

nivattati, V.: turns away from. The verb root is vat- (to turn) with the prefix ni- (away).
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = nivattati.

tato, Adv.: then.

tato: see above. The repetition tato tato: just then, thence.

sammati, V.: calms, is appeased. The verb root is sam- (to be appeased). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = sammati.

eva, part.: just, only.
Euphonic combination: sammati + eva = sammatimeva.

dukkhaṃ: dukkha-, N.n.: suffering. Acc.Sg. = dukkhaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na brāhmaṇassetad akiñci seyyo yadā nisedho manaso piyehi (for a Brahmin, there is nothing better than when he is holding his mind back from agreeable things). This van be analysed into two segments:
    a) na brāhmaṇassetad akiñci seyyo (for a Brahmin, there is nothing better). The subject is the pronoun akiñci (nothing, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun etad (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the noun brāhmaṇassa (for a Brahmin, dative singular).
    b) yadā nisedho manaso piyehi (than when he is holding his mind back from agreeable things). The subject is the adjective nisedho (holding back, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective piyehi (with agreeable [things], instrumental plural). This word has also an attribute, the noun manaso (of mind, genitive singular). The relative adverb yadā (when) connects this segment to the previous one.
    2) yato yato hiṃsamano nivattati tato tato sammatimeva dukkhaṃ (when one turns away from a wish to hurt, then one just calms down the suffering). This can be analysed into two related sentences:
    a) yato yato hiṃsamano nivattati (when one turns away from a wish to hurt). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is nivattati (turns away, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound hiṃsamano (from a wish to hurt, genitive singular). Two relative adverbs yato (whenever) connect this sentence to the following one.
    b) tato tato sammatimeva dukkhaṃ (then one just calms down the suffering). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is sammati (calms down, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is stressed by the particle eva (just). The object is the noun dukkhaṃ (suffering, accusative singular). Two adverbs tato (then) connect this sentence to the previous one.




Commentary:

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 389).
    Whenever we are angry, but manage to turn away from the feelings of hatred and wish to hurt the opposite party, then we just won a small victory on the road towards the Awakenment and the appeasement of all suffering.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
brāhmaṇassa
etad
akiñci
seyyo
yadā
nisedho
manaso
piyehi
yato
hiṃsamano
hiṃsa
mano
nivattati
tato
sammati
eva
dukkhaṃ