Gāthā Sentence Translation Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar Commentary Pronunciation
                          List of Abbreviations

cattāri ṭhānāni naro pamatto

āpajjati paradārūpasevī

apuññalābhaṃ nanikāmaseyyaṃ

nindaṃ tatiyaṃ nirayaṃ catutthaṃ

(DhP 309)




Sentence Translation:

The negligent man, who chases after others' wives,
will get into these four states:
accumulation of demerit, uncomfortable bed,
blame as the third, hell as the fourth.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

cattāri    ṭhānāni    naro   pamatto
|                  |           |            |
Num.n.    N.n.     N.m.     Adj.m.
Acc.Pl.  Acc.Pl. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|__________|           |_______|
         |                            |________________________I.
         |________________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

  āpajjati    para+dārā+upasevī
        |             |         |         |
  V.act.in.     Adj.   N.f.  Adj.m.
  3.Sg.pres.     |_____|   Nom.Sg.
        |                 |________|
I.___|_____________|
II.__|            |
     |________|

List of Abbreviations

apuñña+lābhaṃ  na+nikāma+seyyaṃ
|                 |        |         |            |
N.n.        N.m.  neg.  N.m.      N.f.
|            Acc.Sg.  |_____|       Acc.Sg.
|_________|             |__________|

List of Abbreviations

nindaṃ  tatiyaṃ nirayaṃ catutthaṃ
|                 |           |              |
N.f.       Num.f.   N.m.     Num.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.    Acc.Sg.
|__________|          |________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

cattāri: catur-, Num.: four. Acc.Pl.n. = cattāri.

ṭhānāni: ṭhāna-, N.n.: place, condition, state. It is derived from the verb root ṭhā- (to stay).
Acc.Pl. = ṭhānāni.

naro: nara-, N.m.: man, person. Nom.Sg. = naro.

pamatto: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent, careless. It is a p.p. of the verb root is mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = pamatto.

āpajjati, V.: gets into, meets with. The verb root is pad- (to go) with the prefix ā- (towards). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = āpajjati.

List of Abbreviations

paradārūpasevī: paradārūpasevin-, Adj.: who is chasing others' wives. It is a compound of:
    paradārā-, N.f.: other' wife. It is a compound of:
        para-, Adj.: different, other.
        dārā-, N.f.: wife.
    upasevin-, Adj.: pursuing, chasing, going after. It is derived from the verb root sev- (to associate) with the prefix upa- (near) and the possessive suffix -in.
Euphonic combination: paradāra- + upasevin- = paradārūpasevin-.
Nom.Sg.m. = paradārūpasevī.

apuññalābhaṃ: apuññalābha-, N.m.: accumulation of demerit. It is a compound of:
    apuñña-, N.n.: demerit, evil. It is the word puñña-, N.n.: merit, goodness, virtue, meritorious action, negated by the negative prefix a-.
    lābha-, N.m.: gain, obtaining, accumulating. It is derived from the verb root labh- (to obtain).
Acc.Sg. = apuññalābhaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

nanikāmaseyyaṃ: nanikāmaseyyā-, N.f.: uncomfortable bed. It is a compound of:
    nanikāma-, Adj.: uncomfortable. This can be further analysed into:
        na, neg.: not.
        nikāma-, N.m.: pleasure, longing, wish, desire.
    seyyā-, N.f.: bed, couch.
Acc.Sg. = nanikāmaseyyaṃ.

nindaṃ: nindā-, N.f.: blame, reproach. Acc.Sg. = nindaṃ.

tatiyaṃ: tatiya-, Num.: third. Acc.Sg.f. = tatiyaṃ.

nirayaṃ: niraya-, N.m.: hell. Acc.Sg. = nirayaṃ.

catutthaṃ: catuttha-, Num.: fourth. Acc.Sg.m. = catutthaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of five syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) cattāri ṭhānāni naro pamatto āpajjati paradārūpasevī (the negligent man, who chases after others' wives, will get into four states). The subject is the noun naro (man, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the past participle pamatto (negligent, nominative singular) and the compound paradārūpasevī (chasing after others' wives, nominative singular). The verb is āpajjati (goes to, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun ṭhānāni (places, accusative plural) with its attribute, the numeral cattāri (four, accusative plural).
    In the remaining four, the subject and the verb of the first sentence are implied.
    2) apuññalābhaṃ (accumulation of demerit, accusative singular). The word is an object.
    3) nanikāmaseyyaṃ (uncomfortable bed, accusative singular). The word is an object).
    4) nindaṃ tatiyaṃ (blame as the third). The object is the noun nindaṃ (blame, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the numeral tatiyaṃ (third, accusative singular).
    5) nirayaṃ catutthaṃ (hell as the fourth). The object is the noun nirayaṃ (hell, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the numeral catutthaṃ (fourth, accusative singular).




Commentary:

    The famous benefactor Anātha Piṇḍika had a nephew named Khema. He was not only very rich, but also very handsome. Women fell attracted to him and Khema committed adultery often. He was caught several times, but the king did not take any actions against him, out of respect for his uncle. When Anātha Piṇḍika found out, he took Khema to see the Buddha. The Buddha spoke this verse (and the following one, Dhp 310) enumerating the bad results of adultery. Khema changed his behavior and observed the code of morality, the Five Precepts.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

cattāri
ṭhānāni
naro
pamatto
āpajjati
paradārūpasevī
para
dārā
upasevī
apuññalābhaṃ
apuñña
lābhaṃ
nanikāmaseyyaṃ
na
nikāma
seyyaṃ
nindaṃ
tatiyaṃ
nirayaṃ
catutthaṃ