Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# poranam etaj atula netaj ajjatanam iva

# nindanti tunhim asinaj nindanti bahubhaninaj

# mitabhanim pi nindanti natthi loke anindito

# (DhP 227)

Sentence Translation:

O Atula, this is an old thing; it is not just today.
They blame one who is sitting silently; they blame one who is speaking a lot.
They blame also the one who is speaking moderately. There is nobody blameless in the world.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

poranam etaj atula na etaj ajjatanam iva
| | | | | | |
Adj.n. Pron.n. N.m. neg. Pron.n. Adj.n. part.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Voc.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
|__________| | |_____| |______|
|_____________| |______________|

List of Abbreviations

nindanti tunhim asinaj nindanti bahu+bhaninaj
| | | | | |
V.act.in. Adv. Adj.m. V.act.in. Adj. Adj.m.
3.Pl.pres. | Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. | Acc.Sg.
| |______| | |______|
|____________| |_________|

List of Abbreviations

mita+bhanim pi nindanti na atthi loke anindito
| | | | | | | |
Adj. Adj.m. conj. V.act.in. neg. V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m.
| Acc.Sg. | 3.Pl.pres. | 3.Sg.pres. Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_______| | | |______| | |
|________| | |__________| |
|__________| |____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

poranam: porana-, Adj.: ancient, belonging to old times. Nom.Sg.n. = poranam.

etaj: etad-, Pron.: this. Neuter: etaj. Nom.Sg. = etaj.

atula: atula-, N.m.: personal name. Voc.Sg. = atula.

na, neg.: not.

etaj: see above.
Euphonic combination: na + etaj = netaj.

ajjatanam: ajjatana-, Adj.: present, modern, today's. Nom.Sg.n. = ajjatanam. The form ajjatanam is used because of metrical requirements.

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va). Here used instead of the particle eva (just, only).

List of Abbreviations

nindanti, V.: blame. The verb root is nind-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = nindanti.

tunhim, Adv.Ind.: silently, without words.

asinaj: asina-, Adj.: sitting. It is a p.p. of the verb as- (to sit). Acc.Sg.m. = asinaj.

nindanti: see above.

bahubhaninaj: bahubhanin-, Adj.: speaking much, speaking a lot. It is a compound of:
bahu-, Adj.: large, much, very.
bhanin-, Adj.: speaking. It is derived from the verb root bhan-, with the possessive suffix -in.
Acc.Sg.m. = bahubhaninaj.

mitabhanim: mitabhanin-, Adj.: speaking moderately. It is a compound of:
mita-, Adj: measured, moderate. It is a p.p. of the verb root ma- (to measure).
bhanin-, Adj.: see above.
Acc.Sg.m. = mitabhanim. (See above to note that there are two possible forms of the Acc.Sg.)

List of Abbreviations

pi, conj.: also.

nindanti: see above.

na, neg.: not.

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

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

anindito: anindita-, Adj.: blameless, not being blamed. It is a p.p. of the verb root nind- (to blame) with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m. = anindito.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of six syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) poranam etaj atula (o Atula, this is an old thing). The subject is the pronoun etaj (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective poranam (of old, nominative singular). The sentence is introduced by the noun atula (o, Atula; vocative singular), addressing the person present.
2) netaj ajjatanam iva (it is not just today). The subject is the pronoun etaj (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective ajjatanam (of today, nominative singular). It is further stressed by the particle iva (like; here instead of the particle eva, just).
3) nindanti tunhim asinaj (they blame one who is sitting silently). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the past participle asinaj (sitting, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adverb tunhim (silently).
4) nindanti bahubhaninaj (they blame one who is speaking a lot). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound bahubhaninaj (one who is speaking a lot, accusative singular).
5) mitabhanim pi nindanti (they blame also the one who is speaking moderately). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound mitabhanim (the one who is speaking moderately, accusative singular). It is further stressed by the conjunction pi (also).
6) natthi loke anindito (there is nobody blameless in the world). The subject is the adjective anindito (blameless, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun loke (in the world, locative singular).

Commentary:

There was a man named Atula. Once he and his friends wanted to hear the Dharma. They went to see Venerable Revata. But he was practicing meditation and did not tell them anything. They were disappointed and so went to see Venerable Sariputta. He expounded the Dharma in length, telling them many profound teachings they did not quite understand. Still unhappy, they went to Venerable Ananda. He explained shortly basic teachings of the Buddha.
Atula and his friends then went to see the Buddha. They complained. Revata did not say anything at all, Sariputta spoke too much and Ananda too little. After such a long time, they still were not satisfied. The Buddha replied with this verse (and the following ones, DhP 228, DhP 229 and DhP 230), saying that, as before, so today, there is no one who is never blamed.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

poranam
etaj
atula
na
ajjatanam
iva
nindanti
tunhim
asinaj
bahubhaninaj
bahu
bhaninaj
mitabhanim
mita
bhanim
pi
na
atthi
loke
anindito