Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Not wandering around naked, not matted hair, not mud on
the body,
not fasting, nor lying on the bare ground,
dust and sweat, sitting on one's heels -
nothing can purify a mortal who has not overcome his
doubts.
na nagga+cariyā
na jaṭā
na paṅkā
| |
| |
| |
|
neg. Adj. N.f. neg.
N.f. neg. N.m.
| |
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. |
Nom.Pl.
| |______|
|______| |_____|
|________|
|
|
|_______________|___________|____________________
List of Abbreviations
na anāsakā
thaṇḍila+sāyikā
vā
|
| |
| |
neg. N.f.
N.n. N.f. conj.
| Nom.Sg.
| Nom.Sg. |
|_______|
|______| |
|
|_________|
____|__________________|____________________________
List of Abbreviations
rajo
ca jallaṃ ukkuṭika+ppadhānaṃ
|
| |
|
|
N.n. conj.
N.n. N.m.
N.n.
Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
| Nom.Sg.
|_________|
| |__________|
_____|__________|__________|_________________________
List of Abbreviations
sodhenti maccaṃ
avitiṇṇa+kaṅkhaṃ
|
| |
|
V.act.caus. N.m.
Adj. N.m.
3.Pl.pres. Acc.Sg.
| Acc.Sg.
|
| |________|
|
|___________|
|_________________|
_________|
na, neg.: not.
naggacariyā: naggacariyā-,
N.f.: wandering around naked (a popular form of ascetic practice in ancient
India). It is a compound of:
nagga-, Adj.: naked.
cariyā-,
N.f.: wandering. It is derived from the verb car- (to move, to wander
about).
Nom.Sg. = naggacariyā.
na: see above.
jaṭā: jaṭā-, N.f.: matted hair (worn by ascetics). Nom.Sg. = jaṭā.
na: see above.
paṅkā: paṅka-, N.m.: mud, dirt (kept on the body as an ascetic practice). Nom.Pl. = paṅkā.
na: see above.
List of Abbreviations
anāsakā:
anāsakā-,
N.f.: fasting, abstaining from food. It is the word āsaka-,
Adj.: having food, negated by the negative prefix an-. Nom.Sg. =
anāsakā.
Euphonic combination: na + anāsakā
= nānāsakā.
thaṇḍilasāyikā:
thaṇḍilasāyikā-,
N.f.: lying on the bare ground. It is a compound of:
thaṇḍila-,
N.n.: ground, level place.
sāyika-,
Adj.: lying, sleeping.
Nom.Sg. = thaṇḍilasāyikā.
vā, conj.: or.
rajo: rajo-, N.n.: dust, dirt. Nom.Sg. = rajo.
ca, conj.: and.
jallaṃ: jalla-, N.n.: sweat, dirt. Nom.Sg. = jallaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ:
ukkuṭikappadhāna-,
N.n.: practice of sitting on one's heels for a long period of time (an
ascetic practice). It is a compound of:
ukkuṭika-,
N.m.: squatting, sitting on one's heels.
padhāna-,
N.n.: exertion, effort, striving.
Euphonic combination: ukkuṭika-
+ padhāna- = ukkuṭikappadhāna-.
Nom.Sg. = ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ.
sodhenti, V.: make clean, purify. It is a caus. of the verb sujjhati (to become clean; the verb root is sudh-). 3.Pl.act.caus.pres. = sodhenti.
maccaṃ: macca-, N.m.: mortal, a living being. Acc.Sg. = maccaṃ.
avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ:
avitiṇṇakaṅkha-,
Adj.: who has not overcome doubt. It is the word vitiṇṇakaṅkha-,
Adj.: who has overcome doubts, negated by the negative prefix a-.
This word is the compound of:
vitiṇṇa-,
Adj.: overcome, crossed. It is a p.p. of the verb root tar- (to
cross) with the prefix vi- (over).
kaṅkhā-,
N.f.: doubt, uncertainty.
Acc.Sg.m. = avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ.
List of Abbreviations
There are eight subjects in this sentence.
They are:
1) naggacariyā
(wandering around naked, nominative singular).
2) jaṭā
(matted hair, nominative singular).
3) paṅkā
(mud on the body, nominative plural).
4) anāsakā
(fasting, nominative singular).
5) thaṇḍilasāyikā
(lying on the bare ground, nominative singular). This subject is connected
to the other ones by the conjunction vā
(or).
6) rajo (dust, nominative singular).
The conjunction ca (and) connects this subject to the following
one.
7) jallaṃ
(sweat, nominative singular).
8) ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ
(sitting on one's heels, nominative singular).
The verb is sodhenti (clean,
3rd person, plural, active, causative, present tense). It is
negated by several negative particles na (not). The object is the
noun maccaṃ (a mortal, accusative singular),
with its attribute, the adjective compound avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ
(who has not overcome his doubts, accusative singular).
In Sāvatthi
there lived a rich man named Bahu Bhāṇḍika.
When his wife died, he decided to become a monk. But first he built himself
a monastery, brought many servants and provisions of food with him. So
even as a monk he lived in comfort and had plenty of delicious food every
day.
When the Buddha heard about this,
he admonished the monk, saying that his teaching is about simple life and
asked why did he bring so much property with him. The monks became angry
and took off his robe, asking the Buddha if this was the way he wanted
him to live from now on.
The Buddha again admonished him, "How
come you have lost your sense of shame and fear of evil? Even in your former
existence as a hungry ghost you had this sense, where did it go?" The monk
realized his mistake and apologized for getting angry and taking off his
clothes.
The Buddha then spoke this verse,
saying that austerities and ascetic practices do not make a monk. Only
when we discard ignorance can we be really free.
At the end of this discourse, many
monks present attained the first stage of Awakenment.
Word pronunciation:
na
naggacariyā
nagga
cariyā
jaṭā
paṅkā
anāsakā
thaṇḍilasāyikā
thaṇḍila
sāyikā
vā
rajo
ca
jallaṃ
ukkuṭikappadhānaṃ
ukkuṭika
padhānaṃ
sodhenti
maccaṃ
avitiṇṇakaṅkhaṃ
vitiṇṇa
kaṅkhaṃ