Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
The stupid fools behave as if they
themselves were their enemies,
doing bad deeds, which have bitter fruit.
caranti bālā dummedhā amittena
eva attanā
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V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m. Adj.m. part. N.m.
3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. Ins.Sg. | Ins.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
karontā pāpakaṃ kammaṃ yaṃ
hoti kaṭuka+pphalaṃ
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Adj.m. Adj.n. N.n. Rel.Pron.n. V.act.in. Adj. N.n.
Nom.Pl. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg.
| |_______| | | |______|
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caranti, V.: behave, act. The verb root is car- (to behave, to act; the primary meaning is "to walk"). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = caranti.
bālā: bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person. Nom.Pl. = bālā.
dummedhā: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. Derived from the word medhā-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du + medha = dummedha). Nom.Pl.m. = dummedhā.
amittena: amitta-, N.m.:
enemy. It is the word mitta-, N.m.: friend, negated by the negative prefix
a-. Ins.Sg. = amittena.
Euphonic combination: amittena + eva = amitteneva.
eva, part.: just, only.
List of Abbreviations
attanā: attan-, N.m.: self. Ins.Sg. = attanā.
karontā: karont-, Adj.: doing. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root kar- (to do). Nom.Pl.m. = karontā.
pāpakaṃ: pāpaka-, Adj.: evil, bad. It is the word pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Acc.Sg.n. = pāpakaṃ.
kammaṃ: kamma-, N.n.:
deed, action. Derived from the verb kar- (to do).
Acc.Sg. = kammaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
yaṃ: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Nom.Sg.n.: yaṃ.
hoti, V.: is. The verb bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = hoti.
kaṭukapphalaṃ:
kaṭukapphala-, Adj.: having bitter fruit. It is a compound of:
kaṭuka-, Adj.: bitter, acid.
phala-, N.n.: fruit.
Euphonic combination: kaṭuka- + phala- = kaṭukapphala-.
Nom.Sg.n. = kaṭukapphalaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
The subject of this sentence is
the noun bālā (fools, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the
adjective dummedhā (stupid, nominative plural) and the active present
participle karontā (doing, nominative plural). This last word has itself
an attribute, the noun kammaṃ (deed, accusative singular) and that in
turn has the adjective pāpakaṃ (bad, accusative singular) as an attribute.
To this noun kammaṃ there is a dependent clause, yaṃ hoti kaṭukapphalaṃ
(which has bitter fruit). Here, the subject is the relative pronoun yaṃ
(that which, nominative singular). The object is the compound kaṭukapphalaṃ
(having bitter fruit, nominative singular) and the verb is hoti (is,
3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
In the main sentence, the verb is caranti (behave, 3rd person,
plural, active, indicative, present tense). This verb has an attribute, the
noun attanā (with oneself, instrumental singular). This noun has the
noun amittena (with enemy, instrumental singular), strengthened by the
particle eva (just), as an attribute.
There was a man named Suppabuddha.
In one of his previous existences he killed a courtesan and she vowed a revenge
on him. In yet another existence he spat on a holy man.
As a result of these actions he was born as a leper. Once he listened
to the Buddha's discourse. He very quickly realized the Dharma and followed
the Buddha to the monastery.
Sakka, the king of gods, wanted to test him and so he appeared in
front of him and told him: "You are only a poor man. If you renounce the
Buddha, I will give you all the wealth of the world." But Suppabuddha replied,
that he was actually an extremely rich man - having the faith in the Buddha
and his teaching.
Then Sakka related the story to the Buddha, who said that
a hundred Sakkas could not turn Suppabuddha of the right path. Suppabuddha then
went to see the Buddha and on the way back from the monastery an evil spirit
- the woman whom he killed in a previous existence - killed him.
The monks asked the Buddha where was Suppabuddha reborn and
the Buddha told them, that he had been reborn in Tāvatimsa heaven. By doing
bad deeds over the period of several lives he accumulated a lot of defilements.
These caused him so much pain and suffering, but his realizing the Dharma has
cleared them away.
Word pronunciation:
caranti
bālā
dummedhā
amittena
eva
attanā
karontā
pāpakaṃ
kammaṃ
yaṃ
hoti
kaṭukapphalaṃ
kaṭuka
phalaṃ