One is not called righteous because one hastily judges what is good.
Which wise person has thoroughly investigated both right and wrong,
[continued in DhP 257]

na    tena        hoti   dhamma+ṭṭho        yena     atthaṃ sahasā  naye
|          |             |           |          |              |             |          |          |
neg. Pron.n. V.act.in.  N.m.  Adj.m. Rel.Pron.n.  N.m.   Adv.   V.act.
|       Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.   |    Nom.Sg.   Ins.Sg.    Acc.Sg.    |    3.Sg.opt.
|______|_______|           |_____|               |             |          |______|
           |      |_____________|                   |             |_________|
           |__________|                               |____________|
                    |_____________________________|

List of Abbreviations

yo                 ca   atthaṃ anatthaṃ ca      ubho  niccheyya paṇḍito
|                     |         |            |         |          |            |             |
Rel.Pron.m. conj.  N.m.     N.m.   conj.  Adj.m.   V.act.      N.m.
Nom.Sg.         |    Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.    |    Acc.Du. 3.Sg.opt. Nom.Sg.
|                     |_____|            |_____|          |            |             |
|                          |____________|               |            |             |
|                                    |_______________|            |             |
|                                                  |______________|             |
|___________________________________|______________|
                                                                |_______|

na, neg.: not.

tena: tad-, Pron.: it. Ins.Sg.n. = tena (by it, because of it).

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

dhammaṭṭho: dhammaṭṭha-, Adj.: standing in or based on the Dharma, righteous, just. It is a compound of:
    dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
    -ṭṭha-, Adj. suffix: standing. It is derived from the verb root ṭhā- (to stand).
Nom.Sg.m. = dhammaṭṭho.

yena: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Ins.Sg.n. = yena.

List of Abbreviations

atthaṃ: attha-, N.m.: good, welfare. Acc.Sg. = atthaṃ.
Euphonic combination: yena + atthaṃ = yenatthaṃ.

sahasā, Adv.: hastily, quickly, without consideration.

naye, V.: lit.: to lead. Here: to draw a conclusion, to judge, to take as, to understand. The verb root is nī-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = naye.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

ca, conj.: and.

atthaṃ: see above.

List of Abbreviations

anatthaṃ: anattha-, N.m.: disadvantage, loss, misfortune, harm. It is the word attha-, N.m.: gain, advantage, profit, negated by the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg. = anatthaṃ.

ca: see above.

ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Acc.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.

niccheyya, V.: to investigate, to analyze, to ascertain. The verb root is ci- (to collect) with the prefix nis- (completing, finishing the action). 3.Sg.act.opt. = niccheyya.

paṇḍito: paṇḍita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = paṇḍito.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na tena hoti dhammaṭṭho yenatthaṃ sahasā naye (one is not called righteous because one hastily judges what is good). This can be further analysed as:
    a) na tena hoti dhammaṭṭho (one is not called righteous). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is hoti (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective dhammaṭṭho (righteous, nominative singular). The pronoun tena (by that, because of; instrumental singular) connects this segment to the following one.
    b) yenatthaṃ sahasā naye (because one hastily judges what is good). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is naye (would judge, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the adverb sahasā (hastily). The object is the noun atthaṃ (welfare, goodness; accusative singular). The relative pronoun yena (by which, because, instrumental singular) connects this segment to the previous one.
    2) yo ca atthaṃ anatthaṃ ca ubho niccheyya paṇḍito (which wise person has thoroughly investigated both right and wrong). There are two subjects, the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular) and the noun paṇḍito (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is niccheyya (would investigate, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). There are two objects, the nouns atthaṃ (good, accusative singular) and anatthaṃ (wrong, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). They have an attribute, the adjective ubho (both, accusative dual).

    Some monks were returning from Sāvatthi after their almsround. Because there was a heavy rain, they took a shelter in a hall of justice. While there, they observed the judges deciding the cases very quickly after having taken bribes.
    The monks later reported the matter to the Buddha who told them this verse (and the following one, DhP 257).

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
tena
hoti
dhammaṭṭho
dhamma
ṭṭho
yena
atthaṃ
sahasā
naye
yo
ca
anatthaṃ
ubho
niccheyya
paṇḍito