It is better to live alone; there is no companionship with a fool.
One should live alone, and commit no evil.
One should be content with little, like an elephant in the elephant-grove.

ekassa    caritaṃ    seyyo     na      atthi        bāle   sahāyatā
|                  |             |          |           |             |            |
Adj.m.     N.n.       Adj.n.   neg.  V.act.in.    N.m.      N.f.
Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.    |    3.Sg.pres. Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|__________|             |          |______|             |             |
        |_____________|                |__________|              |
                                                          |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

eko            care      na     ca   pāpāni    kayirā
|                    |          |       |          |            |
Adj.m.      V.act.    neg. conj.   N.n.      V.act.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.    |        |    Acc.Pl.  3.Sg.opt.
|___________|          |____|______|______|
                                            |___|

List of Abbreviations

appa+ussukko mātaṅga+araññe   va     nāgo
|             |             |            |          |         |
Adj.   Adj.m.     N.m.     N.n.    part.   N.m.
|        Nom.Sg.      |       Loc.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.
|_______|              |______|          |         |
      |                            |________|_____|
      |                                     |___|
      |______________________|

ekassa: eka-, Num.: one. As an Adj.: alone. Gen.Sg.m. = ekassa.

caritaṃ: carita-, Adj.: acting, moving, behaving. It is a p.p. of the verb root car- (to move, to live). As an N.n.: life, living. Nom.Sg. = caritaṃ.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

bāle: bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person. Loc.Sg. = bāle.

List of Abbreviations

sahāyatā: sahāyatā-, N.f.: companionship. It is an abstract from the noun sahāya-, N.m.: companion, friend. Nom.Sg. = sahāyatā.

eko: eka-, Num.: one. As an Adj.: alone. Nom.Sg.m. = eko.

care, V.: should live. The verb root is car- (to act, to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.

na, neg.: not.

ca, conj.: and.

pāpāni: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Acc.Pl. = pāpāni.

kayirā, V.: would do. The verb is root kar- (to do). 3.Sg.act.opt. = kayirā.

List of Abbreviations

appossukko: appossukka-, Adj.: wanting little, with a few desires. It is a compound of:
    appa-, Adj.: few, little.
    ussukka-, Adj.: greedy, longing, desirous.
Euphonic combination: appa- + ussukka- = appossukka-.
Nom.Sg.m. = appossukko.

mātaṅgaraññe: mātaṅgarañña-, N.n.: elephant forest, elephant-grove. It is a compound of:
    mātaṅga-, N.m.: elephant.
    arañña-, N.n.: forest.
Euphonic combination: mātaṅga- + arañña- = mātaṅgarañña-.
Loc.Sg. = mātaṅgaraññe.

va, part.: as, like.

nāgo: nāga-, N.m.: elephant. Nom.Sg. = nāgo.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of five syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) ekassa caritaṃ seyyo (it is better to live alone). The subject is the noun caritaṃ (life, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective ekassa (of the one, who is alone, genitive singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular).
    2) natthi bāle sahāyatā (there is no companionship with a fool). The subject is the noun sahāyatā (friendship, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the noun bāle (in the fool, locative singular).
    3) eko care (one should live alone). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is care ([one] should live, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the adjective eko (alone, nominative singular).
    4) na ca pāpāni kayirā (one should commit no evil). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is kayirā ([one] should do, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun pāpāni (evil, accusative plural). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes. It also connects this sentence to the previous one.
    5) appossukko mātaṅgaraññe va nāgo (one should be content with little, like an elephant in the elephant-grove). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the clause b):
    a) appossukko (one should be content with little). The subject is omitted; the previous sentences imply the third person singular pronoun. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective appossukko (content with little, nominative singular).
    b) mātaṅgaraññe va nāgo (like an elephant in the elephant-grove). The subject is the noun nāgo (elephant, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound mātaṅgaraññe (in the elephant-grove, locative singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the two previous verses (DhP 328 and DhP 329).
    Companionship with a fool is very stressful. We cannot change the fool's ways, because a fool is a fool and does not realize hi foolishness. We are even in danger of becoming fools ourselves, if we lose control and start to learn from the fool. Therefore it is far better to be alone and to concentrate solely on our mental development and on reaching the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ekassa
caritaṃ
seyyo
natthi
na
atthi
bāle
sahāyatā
eko
care
ca
pāpāni
kayirā
appossukko
appa
ussukko
mātaṅgaraññe
mātaṅga
araññe
va
nāgo