Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# akkodhena jine kodhaj asadhuj sadhuna jine

# jine kadariyaj danena saccenalikavadinaj

# (DhP 223)

Sentence Translation:

Conquer anger by non-anger; conquer badness by goodness.
Conquer stinginess by giving; conquer liar by truth.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

akkodhena jine kodhaj asadhuj sadhuna jine
| | | | | |
N.m. V.act. N.m. N.n. N.n. V.act.
Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|__________| | | |_______|
|____________| |__________|

List of Abbreviations

jine kadariyaj danena saccena alika+vadinaj
| | | | | |
V.act. N.n. N.n. N.n. N.m. Adj.m.
3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Ins.Sg. Ins.Sg. | Acc.Sg.
|__________|________| | |______|
|_____| |________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

akkodhena: akkodha-, N.m.: non-anger, absence of anger. Ins.Sg. = akkodhena.

jine, V.: should conquer. The verb root is ji- (to conquer, to win). 3.Sg.act.opt. = jine.

kodhaj: kodha-, N.m.: anger. Acc.Sg. = kodhaj.

asadhuj: asadhu-, Adj.: bad, wrong, not meritorious. As an N.n.: bad deed, wrong action. It is the word sadhu-, Adj.: good, meritorious, with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg. = asadhuj.

sadhuna: sadhu-, Adj.: good, meritorious. As an N.n.: good deed, right action. Ins.Sg. = sadhuna.

List of Abbreviations

jine: see above.

kadariyaj: kadariya-, Adj.: selfish, miserly, stingy. As an N.n.: avarice, selfishness, stinginess.
Acc.Sg. = kadariyaj.

danena: dana-, N.n.: giving [in charity], distribution [of gifts]. Ins.Sg. = danena.

saccena: sacca-, N.n.: truth. Ins.Sg. = saccena.

alikavadinaj: alikavadin-, Adj.: lying, speaking falsely. It is a compound of:
alika-, N.m.: falsehood, lie.
vadin-, Adj.: speaking. It is derived from the verb root vad- (to speak) with the possessive suffix -in.
Ins.Sg. = alikavadinaj.
Euphonic combination: saccena + alikavadinaj = saccenalikavadinaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) akkodhena jine kodhaj (conquer anger by non-anger). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is jine ([one] should conquer, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun akkodhena (by non-anger, instrumental singular). The object is the noun kodhaj (anger, accusative singular).
2) asadhuj sadhuna jine (conquer badness by goodness). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is jine ([one] should conquer, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun sadhuna (by goodness, instrumental singular). The object is the noun asadhuj (badness, accusative singular).
3) jine kadariyaj danena (conquer stinginess by giving). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is jine ([one] should conquer, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun danena (by giving, instrumental singular). The object is the noun kadariyaj (stinginess, accusative singular).
4) saccenalikavadinaj (conquer liar by truth). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is omitted, implying the verb jine from the previous sentence. It has an attribute, the noun saccena (by truth, instrumental singular). The object is the noun alikavadinaj (liar, accusative singular).

Commentary:

In Savathi there lived a rich man named Sumana. He had a servant named Punna. Once Punna and his wife offered almsfood to Venerable Sariputta and as a result of this deed, Punna found gold in the field he was ploughing. The king declared him to be the royal banker and the whole family became extremely rich and influential. Once Punna and his family were offering almsfood to the Buddha and the monks for seven days. After hearing the Dharma from the Buddha the whole family, Punna, his wife and their daughter Uttara, attained the Awakenment.
Uttara got married to the son of Sumana. Because the family was not Buddhist, she was not able to perform meritorious deeds. Her father sent her some money and arranged for a woman named Sirima to look after the household for a few days.
During this time, Uttara was offering almsfood to the Buddha and the monks. When her husband saw her, he smiled, because he did not understand the significance of giving and thought her stupid. But Sirima, seeing him smile, forgot she was there only for a few days, and became jealous. She brought some boiling oil with the intention to pour it over the head of Uttara. Uttara knew what was about to happen but she did not feel any anger or hatred. She was very grateful to Sirima, because only with her help was she able to perform meritorious deeds. She made a firm resolution not to let any anger or hatred enter her mind.
The boiling oil then became harmless, like cold water. Sirima did not understand and went to get another pot of hot oil. But by then other servants caught her and beat her up.
Then Sirima realized what she had done and asked Uttara for forgiveness. Uttara told her to go to see "her father" - she meant the Buddha, who has taught her the Dharma and helped her to reach the Awakenment.
The Buddha listened to all what happened. Then he praised Uttara for not feeling any anger or hatred. He told her this verse. At the end, Uttara forgave Sirima.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

akkodhena
jine
kodhaj
asadhuj
sadhuna
kadariyaj
danena
saccena
alikavadinaj
alika
vadinaj