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

candaṃ va vimalaṃ suddhaṃ vippasannam anāvilaṃ

nandībhavaparikkhīṇaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ

(DhP 413)




Sentence Translation:

Who is like a moon, spotless, clean, bright and undisturbed,
who has destroyed the existence of pleasure - him do I call a Brahmin.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

candaṃ  va   vimalaṃ suddhaṃ vippasannam anāvilaṃ
|              |          |             |                 |               |
N.m.     part.  Adj.m.   Adj.m.       Adj.m.       Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.    |    Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.     Acc.Sg.      Acc.Sg.
|              |          |_______|__________|________|
|________|_________|
       |____|
           |_________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

nandī+bhava+parikkhīṇaṃ  tam        ahaṃ      brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ
|              |               |             |              |              |             |
N.f.      N.m.      Adj.m.   Pron.m.     Pron.    V.act.in.    N.m.
|________|         Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.   Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
        |____________|             |              |              |              |
___________|                       |               |              |              |
          |__________________|               |              |              |
                             |________________|________|________|
                                                          |               |____|
                                                          |__________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

candaṃ: canda-, N.m.: moon. Acc.Sg. = candaṃ.

va, part.: as, like.

vimalaṃ: vimala-, Adj.: clean, without stains, spotless. It is the word mala-, N.n.: impurity, stain, dirt, with the prefix vi- (without). Acc.Sg.m. = vimalaṃ.

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

vippasannam: vippasanna-, Adj.: purified, clear, bright. It is a p.p. of the verb vippasīdati (to become bright). The verb root is sīd- (to sit). Acc.Sg.m. = vippasannam.

anāvilaṃ: anāvila-, Adj.: undisturbed, clean. It is the word āvila-, Adj.: stirred up, dirty with the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg.m. = anāvilaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

nandībhavaparikkhīṇaṃ: nandībhavaparikkhīṇa-, Adj.: by whom the existence of pleasure has been completely destroyed. It is a compound of:
    nandī-, N.f.: pleasure, delight. It is derived from the verb root nand- (to rejoice, to be glad).
    bhava-, N.m.: becoming, existence. It is derived from the verb root bhū- (to be).
    parikkhīṇa-, Adj.: completely removed, destroyed. It is a p.p. of the verb root khī- (to remove, to destroy) with the prefix pari- (all around, completely).
Acc.Sg.m. = nandībhavaparikkhīṇaṃ.

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 of this sentence 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 three attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular), the compound nandībhavaparikkhīṇaṃ (who has destroyed the existence of pleasure, accusative singular) and the noun candaṃ (moon, accusative singular). This last word has four attributes, the adjectives vimalaṃ (spotless, accusative singular), suddhaṃ (clean, accusative singular), vippasannam (bright, accusative singular) and anāvilaṃ (undisturbed, accusative singular). The word is also modified by the particle va (as, like).




Commentary:

    There lived a Brahmin in Sāvatthi called Candābha. In one of his previous lives he made offerings to the stūpa of the Buddha Kassapa. Because of this, a circle of light resembling the moon was radiating from his navel. Therefore he was called Candābha (moonlight). Some Brahmins took advantage of this and allowed people to touch Candābha for money.
    Once they passed the Jetavana monastery and laughed at some disciples of the Buddha who were on the way to hear the Dharma. Then they took Candābha inside to compete with the Buddha. When Candābha was in the presence of the Buddha, his ring of light went out. Candābha then asked the Buddha to tech him how to make such marks appear and disappear. The Buddha told him to join the Order.
    So Candābha became a monk and very soon he attained Arahantship and told his followers to go away, since he would no longer go with them around showing his navel. The Buddha then confirmed his attainment with this verse.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

candaṃ
va
vimalaṃ
suddhaṃ
vippasannam
anāvilaṃ
nandībhavaparikkhīṇaṃ
nandī
bhava
parikkhīṇaṃ
tam
ahaṃ
brūmi
brāhmaṇaṃ