Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar | Commentary | Pronunciation

List of Abbreviations

# uttitthe na ppamajjeyya dhammaj sucaritaj care

# dhammacari sukhaj seti asmij loke paramhi ca

# (DhP 168)

Sentence Translation:

Arise! Don't be negligent! Practice the good teaching!
One living in truth dwells happily, both in this world and in the next one.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

uttitthe na ppamajjeyya dhammaj sucaritaj care
| | | | | |
V.act. neg. V.act. N.m. Adj.m. V.act.
3.Sg.opt. | 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|_____| |_________| |
|___________|

List of Abbreviations

dhamma+cari sukhaj seti asmij loke paramhi ca
| | | | | | | |
N.m. Adj.m. Adv. V.act.in. Pron.m. N.m. Adj.m. conj.
| Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres. Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg. |
|_________| |_____| |_______|______| |
| | | |________|
| | |_______|
| |______________________|
|________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

uttitthe, V.: be active, get up, arise. The verb root tha- (to stand), with the prefix ud- (up).
3.Sg.act.opt. = uttitthe.

na, neg.: not.

pamajjeyya, V.: to be careless, to neglect. The verb root is mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = pamajjeyya.
Euphonic combination: na + pamajjeyya = na ppamajjeyya.

dhammaj: dhamma-, N.m.: Dharma, The Law, the teaching of the Buddha. Acc.Sg. = dhammaj.

sucaritaj: sucarita-, Adj.: well-conducted, right, good. It is the word carita-, Adj.: behaving, acting (the p.p. of the verb car-, to walk, to act), with the prefix su- (good, well). Acc.Sg.m. = sucaritaj.

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

List of Abbreviations

dhammacari: dhammacarin-, N.m.: living in truth. It is a compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching, The Law, truth.
carin-, Adj.: living, acting. Derived by the suffix -in from the verb car- (to walk, to act).
Nom.Sg. = dhammacari.

sukhaj, Adv.: happily. It is the word sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Acc.Sg. = sukhaj. Here as an adverb.

seti, V.: lays, dwells. The verb root is si- (to lay). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = seti.

asmij: idaj-, Pron.: this. Loc.Sg.m. = asmij.

loke: loka-, N.m.: world. Loc.Sg. = loke.

paramhi: para-, Adj.: different, other. Loc.Sg.m. = paramhi.

ca, conj.: and.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) uttitthe (on should arise). The subject is omitted, implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is uttitthe (one should arise, 3rd person, singular, active, optative).
2) na ppamajjeyya (one should not be negligent). The subject is omitted, implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is pamajjeyya (one should be negligent, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not).
3) dhammaj sucaritaj care (one should practice the good teaching). The subject is omitted, implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is care (one should practice, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun dhammaj (teaching, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective sucaritaj (good, well-conducted; accusative singular).
4) dhammacari sukhaj seti asmij loke paramhi ca (one living in truth dwells happily, both in this world and in the next one). The subject is the compound dhammacari (one living in truth, nominative singular). The verb is seti (dwells, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has two attributes. One is the adverb sukhaj (happily), one is the noun loke (in the world, locative singular). This last word has two attributes, the pronoun asmij (in this, locative singular) and the adjective paramhi (in the other, locative singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and).

Commentary:

When the Buddha attained Awakenment, one of his first big journeys took him to the city of Kapilavatthu, where most of his family lived. He stayed at the outskirts of the city, in the Nigrodharama monastery. His father, king Suddhodana, assumed, that his son would come to his palace for food and made a lot of almsfood prepared. However, he did not invite the Buddha, as was necessary.
So the Buddha went on almsround around the city, as was his custom. He asked himself, if this was the proper course of action and realized that all the Buddhas of the past also went on almsround around the city they were born.
Suddhodana heard about it and went to the Buddha, saying, "Why should my son ask for alms in the very city, where he used to travel in a golden palanquin? I am so ashamed!"
The Buddha explained to him that he was only following the old custom of all the Buddhas and did not wish to put Suddhodana to shame. He also uttered this verse and the following one (DhP 169). The king finally accepted it and was no longer offended.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

uttitthe
na
pamajjeyya
dhammaj
sucaritaj
care
dhammacari
dhamma
cari
sukhaj
seti
asmij
loke
paramhi
ca