Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# yo sasanaj arahataj ariyanaj dhammajivinaj

# patikkosati dummedho ditthij nissaya papikaj

# phalani katthakasseva attaghabbaya phallati

# (DhP 164)

Sentence Translation:

Who scorns thee teaching of the Arahants, the Noble Ones, living righteously,
the fool, who is relying on wrong beliefs,
produces fruit just like a bamboo - for his own destruction.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo sasanaj arahataj ariyanaj dhamma+jivinaj
| | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. N.n. N.m. Adj.m. N.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. Gen.PL. Gen.PL. | Gen.Pl.
| | | | |_______|
| | |________|___________|
| |____________|
| |________________________________________I.
|__________________________________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

patikkosati dummedho ditthij nissaya papikaj
| | | | |
V.act.in. Adj.m. N.f. V.ger. Adj.f.
3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. | Acc.Sg.
I.___| | |______|______|
| | |___|
II._|__________| |
|_____| |
|_____________________|
|________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

phalani katthakassa iva atta+ghabbaya phallati
| | | | | |
N.n. N.m. part. N.m. N.m. V.act.in.
Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg. | | Dat.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
| |_______| |______| |
|_____________| |___________|
|________________________|
__________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

sasanaj: sasana-, N.n.: teaching, message, the teaching of the Buddha. Acc.Sg. = sasanaj.

arahataj: arahant-, Adj.: literally: deserving, worthy. It is derived (a.pr.p.) from the verb root arah-, to deserve. As an N.m.: one, who has attained Nirvana. Usually not translated or explained as Perfected One. Gen.Pl. = arahataj.

ariyanaj: ariya-, Adj.: noble, distinguished, good. Gen.Pl.m. = ariyanaj.

dhammajivinaj: dhammajivin-, N.m.: living righteously. A compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Law, Buddha's teaching, righteousness. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold.
jivin-, Adj.m.: living. Derived from the verb jiv- (to live).
Gen.Pl. = dhammajivinaj.

List of Abbreviations

patikkosati, V.: blames, scorns. The verb root is kus- (to be angry) with the prefix pati- (towards, against). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = patikkosati.

dummedho: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. Derived from the word medha-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du- + medha- = dummedha-). Nom.Sg.m. = dummedho.

ditthij: ditthi-, N.f.: view, belief, theory, idea. It is derived from the verb root dis- (to see).
Acc.Sg.f. = ditthij.

nissaya, V.ger.: leaning on, relying on. The verb root is si- (to cling to) with the prefix ni- (on to).

List of Abbreviations

papikaj: papika-, Adj.: wrong, bad. It is the word papa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Acc.Sg.f. = papikaj.

phalani: phala-, N.n.: fruit, outcome. Acc.Pl. = phalani.

katthakassa: katthaka-, N.m.: a kind of reed, bamboo. Gen.Sg. = katthakassa.

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).
Euphonic combination: katthakassa + iva = katthakasseva.

attaghabbaya: attaghabba-, N.m.: selfdestruction. It is a compound of:
atta-, N.m.: it is the compound form of the word attan-, N.m.: self, oneself.
ghabba-, Adj.: destroying, killing. It is derived from the verb root han- (to strike).
Dat.Sg. = attaghabbaya.

phallati, V.: to bear fruits, to become ripe. The verb root is phal-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = phallati.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
1) yo sasanaj arahataj ariyanaj dhammajivinaj patikkosati dummedho ditthij nissaya papikaj (who scorns thee teaching of the Arahants, the Noble Ones, living righteously, the fool, who is relying on wrong beliefs). This can be further analysed into two segments:
a) yo sasanaj arahataj ariyanaj dhammajivinaj patikkosati dummedho (the fool, who scorns thee teaching of the Arahants, the Noble Ones, living righteously). The subject of this sentence is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular) with its attribute, the adjective dummedho (foolish, nominative singular). The verb is patikkosati (scorns, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun sasanaj (teaching, accusative singular). It has three attributes, arahataj (of the Arahants, genitive plural), ariyanaj (of the Noble Ones, genitive plural) and dhammajivinaj (of those living righteously, genitive plural).
b) ditthij nissaya papikaj (who is relying on wrong beliefs). The subject is omitted, implying the subject yo from the previous segment. The verb is in gerund, nissaya (having relied). The object is the noun ditthij (belief, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective papikaj (wrong, accusative singular).
2) phalani katthakassa iva attaghabbaya phallati (produces fruit just like a bamboo - for his own destruction). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The object is the noun phalani (fruits, accusative plural). There is a clause dependent on the object, katthakassa iva (like a bamboo's). Here the noun katthakassa (bamboo's, genitive singular) forms an attribute to the object phalani and the particle iva (like) connects it to the subject. The verb is phallati (bears fruits, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The verb has an attribute, the compound attaghabbaya (for [his] own destruction, dative singular).

Commentary:

In Savatthi there lived an old woman who was looking after a monk named Kala. She often expressed her wish to go to the Jetavana monastery to hear the teaching from the Buddha’s own mouth. Three times she told Kala about her wish and three times he advised her not to go.
However, one day she went to the monastery in spite of his objections. Kala thought that she would have no more use for him, if she hears the Buddha to speak. So he went to the Buddha and told him not to teach the woman anything deep, because she was very stupid.
The Buddha knew the real reason for Kala's words and he admonished him with this verse, saying that one who abuses the Teaching, is only destroying himself.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
sasanaj
arahataj
ariyanaj
dhammajivinaj
dhamma
jivinaj
patikkosati
dummedho
ditthij
nissaya
papikaj
phalani
katthakassa
iva
attaghabbaya
atta
ghabbaya
phallati