| Gāthā | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure |
| Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation |
One should not want a son, wealth or kingdom, not for
one's own sake, not for the sake of others,
one should not want one's own prosperity by injustice.
Such a person is virtuous, wise and righteous.
na atta+hetu na
parassa hetu na puttam icche
na dhanaṃ na raṭṭhaṃ
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neg. N.m. N.m. neg. Adj.m. N.m. neg.
N.m. V.act. neg. N.n. neg.
N.n.
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3.Sg.opt. | Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg.
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List of Abbreviations
na iccheyya adhammena samiddhim attano
sa sīlavā
paññavā dhammiko
siyā
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neg. V.act. N.m.
N.f. N.m. Pron.m.
Adj.m. Adj.m. Adj.m.
V.act.
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Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
3.Sg.opt.
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na, neg.: not.
attahetu: attahetu-, N.m.: one's own sake.
It is a compound of:
attan-, N.m.: self.
hetu-, N.m.: cause, reason.
Acc.Sg. = attahetu. The more usual form is hetum,
but in the case of the phrase "for the sake of" the form hetu for
accusative is used.
parassa: para-, Adj.: different, other. Gen.Sg.m. = parassa.
hetu: see above.
puttam: putta-, N.m.: son. Acc.Sg. = puttam.
List of Abbreviations
icche, V.: should want. The verb root is is-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = icche. Note that another possible form is iccheyya (see below).
dhanaṃ: dhana-, N.n.: wealth. Acc.Sg. = dhanaṃ.
raṭṭhaṃ: raṭṭha-, N.n.: country, kingdom. Acc.Sg. = raṭṭhaṃ.
iccheyya, V.: should want. The verb root is is-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = iccheyya. See also above the word icche.
adhammena: adhamma-, N.m.: injustice. It is the word dhamma-, N.m.: here meaning "justice", with the negative prefix a-. Ins.Sg. = adhammena.
samiddhim: samiddhi-, N.f.: success, prosperity. Acc.Sg. = samiddhim.
attano: attan-, N.m.: self. Gen.Sg. = attano.
List of Abbreviations
sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = sa (the more usual form is so).
sīlavā: sīlavant-, Adj.: virtuous. It is the word sīla-, N.n.: virtue, with the possessive suffix -vant. Nom.Sg.m. = sīlavā.
paññavā: paññavant-, Adj.: wise, intelligent. It is the word paññā-, N.f.: wisdom, with the possessive suffix -vant. Nom.Sg.m. = paññavā.
dhammiko: dhammika-, Adj.: honorable, righteous. It is the word dhamma-, N.m.: here meaning "law", changed into an adjective. Nom.Sg.m. = dhammiko.
siyā, V.: would be. The verb root is as-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = siyā.
List of Abbreviations
This sentence consists of two sentences.
They are:
1) na attahetu na parassa hetu
na puttam icche na dhanaṃ na raṭṭhaṃ
na iccheyya adhammena samiddhim attano (one should not want a son,
wealth or kingdom, not for one's own sake, not for the sake of others,
one should not want one's own prosperity by injustice). This can be further
subdivided into two segments:
a) na attahetu na parassa hetu
na puttam icche na dhanaṃ na raṭṭhaṃ
(one should not want a son, wealth or kingdom, not for one's own sake,
not for the sake of others). Here the subject is omitted, the verb is implying
the third person singular pronoun. The verb is icche ([one] should
want, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). This verb is
negated by several negative particles na (not). There are five objects:
raṭṭhaṃ
(kingdom, accusative singular), dhanaṃ
(wealth, accusative singular), puttam (a son, accusative singular),
attahetu (one's own sake, accusative singular) and hetu (for
sake of, accusative singular). This last object has an attribute, the adjective
parassa (other's, genitive plural).
b) na iccheyya adhammena samiddhim
attano (one should not want one's own prosperity by injustice). Again,
the subject is omitted. The verb is iccheyya (should want, 3rd
person, singular, active, optative). This verb is negated by the negative
particle na (not). The object is samiddhim (prosperity, accusative
singular). This word has two attributes, attano (one's own, genitive
singular) and adhammena (by injustice, instrumental singular).
2) sa sīlavā
paññavā dhammiko
siyā (such a person is virtuous, wise
and righteous). The subject is the personal pronoun sa (he, nominative
singular). The verb is siyā (would
be, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). There are three
objects, the adjectives sīlavā
(virtuous), paññavā
(wise) and dhammiko (righteous). They are all in nominative singular).
In the city of Sāvatthi,
there lived a man with his pregnant wife. He wanted to become a monk so
he asked his wife for permission. She told him to wait after the baby is
born. When it happened, she again asked him to stay until the child could
walk. When the man finally got to be a monk, he took a subject of meditation,
practiced diligently and soon attained arahantship.
A few years later he visited his house
in order to teach Dharma to his family. His son became a monk too and soon
he also became an Arahant. The wife thought, "If both my husband and my
son entered the Order, I'd better go too." So she left the house and became
a nun. Eventually she too attained arahantship.
The Buddha was told how the whole
family attained arahantship and he replied by this verse. He added, that
a wise man works for his liberation and helps others towards the same goal.
The awakenment can be realized only after much effort.
Word pronunciation:
na
attahetu
atta
parassa
hetu
puttam
icche
dhanaṃ
raṭṭhaṃ
iccheyya
adhammena
samiddhim
attano
sa
sīlavā
paññavā
dhammiko
siyā