Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
"Let both householders and monks
think that it was done by me,
let them be under my will, in whatever duties."
Such are fool's thoughts. His desire and pride grows.
mama eva kataṃ maññantu gihī
pabbajitā ubho
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Pron. part. Adj.n. V.act. N.m. N.m. Adj.m.
Gen.Sg. | Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.imp. Nom.Sg. Nom.Pl. Nom.Du.
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List of Abbreviations
mama eva ativasā assu kicca+akiccesu
kismici
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Pron. part. Adj.m. V.act. N.n. N.n. Pron.n.
Gen.Sg. | Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.opt. | Loc.Pl. Loc.Sg.
|_______| | | |______| |
|________| | |_________|
|____________|_____________|
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List of Abbreviations
iti bālassa saṅkappo icchā
māno ca vaḍḍhati
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part. N.m. N.m. N.f. N.m. conj. V.act.in.
| Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
__| |_______| |________|_____| |
|_________| |_____________|
mama: aham, Pron.: I. Gen.Sg. = mama.
eva, part.: just, only.
Euphonic combination: mama + eva = mameva.
kataṃ: kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do). Acc.Sg.n. = kataṃ.
maññantu, V.: let them think. The verb root is man- (to think).
3.Pl.act.imp. = maññantu.
gihī: gihin-, N.m.: householder, lay follower. Derived from the word gaha-, N.m.: house, by adding the possessive suffix -in. Nom.Sg. = gihī.
List of Abbreviations
pabbajitā: pabbajita-, Adj.: One who has "gone forth" from home and became a monk. It is a p.p. of the verb pabbajati (to go forth). Nom.Pl.m. = pabbajitā.
ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Nom.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.
mama: see above.
eva: see above.
ativasā: ativasa-, Adj.:
under one's will, dependent upon. It is the word vasa-, N.m: power, control,
will, with the prefix ati- (according to, up to). Nom.Pl.m. = ativasā.
Euphonic combination mama + eva + ativasā =
mamevātivasā.
List of Abbreviations
assu: may they be. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Pl.act.opt = assu.
kiccākiccesu: kiccākicca-, Adj. and N.n.: all kinds of duties, various duties.
It is a compound of:
kicca-, N.n.: duty, what ought to be done. It is a grd. of
the verb kar- (to do).
akicca-, N.n.: negated (by the negative prefix a-) word
kicca- (see above).
The meaning of the compound is not "what is duty and what
is not", but rather "all kinds of duties".
Loc.Pl. = kiccākiccesu.
kismici: kiñci-, Pron.: whatever. Loc.Sg.n. = kismici.
iti, part.: a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech. In English this is expressed by quotation marks. Sometimes it is written as ti.
bālassa:
bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool,
ignorant person.
Gen.Sg. = bālassa.
List of Abbreviations
saṅkappo: saṅkappa-, N.m.: thought, intention. Nom.Sg. = saṅkappo.
icchā: icchā-, N.f.: desire, longing. Nom.Sg. = icchā.
māno: māna-, N.m.: pride, conceit. Nom.Sg. = māno.
ca, conj.: and.
vaḍḍhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaḍḍh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaḍḍhati.
List of Abbreviations
There are basically two main sentences
in this verse. The second of them is icchā māno ca vaḍḍhati (desire and
pride grows). Here, the subject is double, the nouns icchā (desire, nominative
singular) and māno (pride, nominative singular). They are connected by
the conjunction ca (and). The verb is vaḍḍhati (grows, 3rd person,
singular, active, indicative, present tense).
The rest of this verse forms the first sentence. It can be
further divided into the main sentence and the direct speech. The main sentence
is iti bālassa saṅkappo (such is fool's thought). Here the subject is
the noun saṅkappo (thought, nominative singular). It has the noun bālassa
(fool's, genitive singular) as an attribute. The verb is omitted, implying the
verb "to be". The particle iti (end of the direct speech) introduces
the sentence and connects it to the direct speech.
The direct speech can be subdivided into two sentences. They
form the first and second lines of the verse respectively.
In the first sentence, the subject is double, the nouns gihī
(householder, nominative singular) and pabbajitā (monks, nominative
plural). They are connected by the adjective ubho (both, nominative dual).
The verb is maññantu (let them think, 3rd person, plural, active, imperative).
The object is the adjective kataṃ (done, accusative singular). It has
an attribute, the pronoun mama (my, genitive singular) that is strengthened
by the particle eva (just, only).
In the second part of the direct speech, the subject is omitted,
implying the subject from the previous sentence (gihī, pabbajitā).
It has an attribute, the adjective ativasā (under [my] will, nominative
plural). This word has itself two attributes, the pronoun mama (my, genitive
singular) that is strengthened by the particle eva (just, only). The
second attribute is the adjective/noun kiccākiccesu (in all duties, locative
plural) with its attribute, the indefinite pronoun kismici (in whatever,
locative singular). The verb is assu (may they be, 3rd person, plural,
active, optative).
The story for this verse is identical
with the story for the previous one, as they actually form two parts of one
rather long verse (see DhP 73).
As with the monk Sudhamma in the story, if we become too attached
to our surroundings, if we identify ourselves with it, our desires will grow.
If we feel that only we know how to do things and if we expect everybody to
follow our leadership in whatever has to be done, our pride will only increase.
Needles to say, desire and pride are hindrances on the way to Awakenment.
Word pronunciation:
mameva
mama
eva
kataṃ
maññantu
gihī
pabbajitā
ubho
mamevātivasā
ativasā
assu
kiccākiccesu
kicca
akiccesu
kismici
iti
bālassa
saṅkappo
icchā
māno
ca
vaḍḍhati