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

yodha puññaṃ ca pāpaṃ ca ubho saṅgam upaccagā

asokaṃ virajaṃ suddhaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ

(DhP 412)




Sentence Translation:

Who has in this world gone beyond both attachments of good and evil,
who is free from sorrow, stainless and pure - him do I call a Brahmin.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo                idha puññaṃ ca   pāpaṃ   ca     ubho   saṅgam upaccagā
|                      |         |        |         |         |         |            |            |
Rel.Pron.m. Adv.   N.n.   conj.   N.n.   conj. Adj.m.    N.m.  V.act.aor.
Nom.Sg.          |   Acc.Sg.   |     Acc.Sg.   |    Acc.Du. Acc.Sg.    3.Sg.
|                      |         |____|          |_____|         |_______|            |
|                      |             |___________|                    |                  |
|                      |                       |_________________|                  |
|                      |______________________|__________________|
|                                          |___________|
|_____________________________|
|________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

asokaṃ virajaṃ suddhaṃ tam       ahaṃ      brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ
|                 |           |           |             |             |              |
Adj.m.   Adj.m.  Adj.m. Pron.m.   Pron.    V.act.in.    N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|_________|_______|______|             |             |              |
                        |_________________|_______|________|
                                                       |             |____|
                                                       |__________|
____________________________________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

idha, Adv.: here, in this world.
Euphonic combination: yo + idha = yodha.

puññaṃ: puñña-, N.n.: good deed, meritorious deed, merit. Acc.Sg. = puññaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

pāpaṃ: pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Acc.Sg. = pāpaṃ.

ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Acc.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.

List of Abbreviations

saṅgam: saṅga-, N.m.: clinging, attachment, bond. It is derived from the verb root sañj- (to cling). Acc.Sg. = saṅgam.

upaccagā, V.: escape, pass, go by. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefixes upa- (near) and ati- (by, beyond). 3.Sg.act.aor. = upaccagā.

asokaṃ: asoka-, Adj.: free from sorrow. The word soka-, N.m.: grief, sorrow, negated by the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.m. = asokaṃ.

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

List of Abbreviations

suddhaṃ: suddha-, Adj.: clean, pure. It is a p.p. of the verb root sudh- (to clean). Acc.Sg.m. = suddhaṃ.

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

    This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
    1) yodha puññaṃ ca pāpaṃ ca ubho saṅgam upaccagā (who has in this world gone beyond both attachments of good and evil). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is upaccagā (has gone beyond, 3rd person, singular, active, aorist). It has an attribute, the adverb idha (here). There are three objects, the nouns puññaṃ (good, accusative singular) and pāpaṃ (evil, accusative singular). These are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). The third attribute is the noun saṅgam (attachment, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective ubho (both, accusative dual).
    2) asokaṃ virajaṃ suddhaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ (who is free from sorrow, stainless and pure - him do I call a Brahmin). 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 four attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the adjectives asokaṃ (free from sorrow, accusative singular), virajaṃ (stainless, accusative singular) and suddhaṃ (pure, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    One day the monks complained to the Buddha that a novice named Revata is getting many offerings from the people although he lives alone in the forest. They accused Revata of craving for material gains. The Buddha spoke this verse, saying that Revata has given up all cravings and is an Arahant.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
idha
puññaṃ
ca
pāpaṃ
ubho
saṅgam
upaccagā
asokaṃ
virajaṃ
suddhaṃ
tam
ahaṃ
brūmi
brāhmaṇaṃ