Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
One should not look at others' wrong
deeds, what the others have done or not.
One should look only at what one oneself has and has not done.
na paresaṃ vilomāni na paresaṃ
kata+akataṃ
| | | | | | |
neg. Adj.m. N.n. neg. Adj.m. N.n. N.n.
| Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. | Gen.Pl. | Acc.Sg.
| |_______| | | |_____|
|__________| | |________|
| |_________|
|__________________|
|______________________________________________________
List of Abbreviations
attano va avekkheyya katāni
akatāni ca
| | | | | |
Pron.m. part. V.med. N.n. N.n. conj.
Gen.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. |
|________| | |_______|______|
|___________| |
|___________________|
___________________|
na, neg.: not.
paresaṃ: para-, Adj.m.: other. Gen.Pl. = paresaṃ.
vilomāni: viloma-, Adj.: wrong, bad. As an N.n.: wrong thing, wrong behavior.
Acc.Pl. = vilomāni.
na: see above.
paresaṃ: see above.
List of Abbreviations
katākataṃ:
katākata-, N.n.: what is done and undone. A compound of:
kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar-
(to do).
As an N.n.: done thing, accomplished thing.
akata-, Adj.: undone. It is a negated (by the negative
prefix a-) word kata- (see above).
As an N.n.: undone thing, unaccomplished thing.
Acc.Sg. = katākataṃ.
attano: attan-, N.m./Pron.: self, oneself. Gen.Sg. = attano.
va: a contracted form of eva, part.: just, only.
List of Abbreviations
avekkheyya, V.: should observe, should look at. The verb ikkh- (to see) with the prefix ava- (down, over). 3.Sg.med.opt. = avekkheyya.
katāni: kata-, N.n.: see above. Acc.Pl. = katāni.
akatāni: akata-, N.n.: see above. Acc.Pl. = akatāni.
ca, conj.: and.
List of Abbreviations
The two lines of this verse form
two parenthetic sentences. There is no subject in any of them. The third person
singular pronoun is implied.
In the first sentence, the verb is omitted. The verb avekkheyya
from the second sentence serves also as the verb for this sentence, but it is
negated by two negative particles na (not). There are two objects, vilomāni
(wrong deeds, accusative plural) and katākataṃ (what is done and undone,
accusative singular). They both have an attribute, the adjective paresaṃ
(others', genitive plural).
In the second sentence, the verb is avekkheyya (one
should look at, 3rd person, singular, medium, optative). There are two objects,
katāni (what is done, accusative plural) and akatāni (what is
undone, accusative plural). They are connected by the conjunction ca
(and). The objects have an attribute, the pronoun attano (oneself's,
genitive singular) which is strengthened by the particle va (more often
as eva; just, only).
In Sāvatthi once lived a lady who
was a disciple of the ascetic Pāthika. All her friends and neighbors were the
disciples of the Buddha and she often wanted to go to the monastery herself,
to hear the Buddha's teachings. But Pāthika always prevented her from going
there.
So she invited the Buddha to her house for almsgiving instead.
He came together with many monks and after the meal he delivered a teaching.
She was very impressed and happy and exclaimed, "Well said!"
Pāthika heard this from the next room and became very angry.
He left the house, cursing the woman and the Buddha.
The lady was very embarrassed by this. But the Buddha advised her
not to be concerned about others' curses, but to be only mindful of her own
good and bad deeds. At the end she attained the first stage of Awakenment.
Word pronunciation:
na
paresaṃ
vilomāni
katākataṃ
kata
akataṃ
attano
va
avekkheyya
katāni
akatāni
ca