| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
Wrong conduct is the stain of a woman. Stinginess is the
stain of a donor.
Evil things are impure - in this world as well as in
the other one.
malaṃ
itthiyā duccaritaṃ
maccheraṃ dadato malaṃ
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N.n.
N.f. N.n.
N.n. Adj.m. N.n.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
malā
ve pāpakā
dhammā asmiṃ
loke paramhi ca
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Adj.m. part. Adj.m.
N.m. Pron.m. N.m. Adj.m.
conj.
Nom.Pl. | Nom.Pl.
Nom.Pl. Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg. |
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malaṃ: mala-, N.n.: impurity, stain, dirt. Nom.Sg. = malaṃ.
itthiyā: itthī-,
N.f.: woman. Gen.Sg. = itthiyā.
Euphonic combination: malaṃ
+ itthiyā = malitthiyā
(because of metrical requirements).
duccaritaṃ: duccarita-,
Adj.: wrong-conduct, wrong action. It is the word carita-, N.n.:
action, conduct (originally it is the p.p. of the verb root car-,
to walk, to act), with the prefix du- (wrong, bad).
Acc.Sg. = duccaritaṃ.
maccheraṃ: macchera-, N.n.: avarice, stinginess, envy. Nom.Sg. = maccheraṃ.
dadato: dadant-, Adj.: giver, donor. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root dā- (to give). Gen.Sg.m. = dadato.
malaṃ: see above.
malā: mala-, Adj.: dirty, stained, impure. Nom.Pl.m. = malā.
List of Abbreviations
ve, part.: indeed.
pāpakā: pāpaka-, Adj.: evil, bad. It is the word pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Nom.Pl.m. = pāpakā.
dhammā: dhamma-, N.m.: here does not mean Buddha's teaching, but should be interpreted rather as "state" or even more generally "thing". Nom.Pl. = dhammā.
asmiṃ: idaṃ-, Pron.: this. Loc.Sg.m. = asmiṃ.
loke: loka-, N.m.: world. Loc.Sg. = loke.
paramhi: para-, Adj.: different, other. Loc.Sg.m. = paramhi.
ca, conj.: and.
List of Abbreviations
This sentence consists of three syntactically
separate sentences. They are
1) malitthiyā
duccaritaṃ (wrong conduct is the stain
of a woman). The subject is the noun duccaritaṃ
(wrong conduct, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the
verb "to be". The object is the malaṃ
(stain, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun itthiyā
(of a woman, genitive singular).
2) maccheraṃ
dadato malaṃ (stinginess is the stain
of a donor). The subject is the noun maccheraṃ
(stinginess, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb
"to be". The object is the malaṃ (stain,
nominative singular). It has an attribute, the active present participle
dadato (of a giving one, genitive singular).
3) malā
ve pāpakā dhammā
asmiṃ loke paramhi ca (evil things are
impure - in this world as well as in the other one). The subject is the
noun dhammā (things, nominative plural).
It has an attribute, the adjective pāpakā
(evil, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
It has an attribute, the noun loke (in the world, locative singular).
This word has two attributes, the pronoun asmiṃ
(in this, locative singular) and the adjective paramhi (in the other,
locative singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and).
The object is the adjective malā (impure,
nominative plural). The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical
purposes.
A certain woman committed adultery.
Her husband was very ashamed and he avoided his friends and the Buddha.
But after some time he came to see the Buddha and told him about his trouble.
The Buddha told him this verse (and the following one, DhP 243), saying
that all these taints originate from ignorance.
Word pronunciation:
malaṃ
itthiyā
duccaritaṃ
maccheraṃ
dadato
malā
ve
pāpakā
dhammā
asmiṃ
loke
paramhi
ca