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List of Abbreviations

# hananti bhoga dummedhaj no ca paragavesino

# bhogatanhaya dummedho hanti abbeva attanaj

# (DhP 355)

Sentence Translation:

Possessions hurt the stupid, but not those who are in search for the opposite shore of suffering.
With his thirst for possessions the fool hurts the others as well as himself.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

hananti bhoga dummedhaj no ca para+gavesino
| | | | | | |
V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m. neg. conj. N.n. Adj.m.
3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Acc.Sg. |____| | Acc.Pl.
|___________|_______| | |_______|
|_____| |__________|

List of Abbreviations

bhoga+tanhaya dummedho hanti abbe eva attanaj
| | | | | | |
N.m. N.f. Adj.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. part. N.m.
| Ins.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Pl. | Acc.Sg.
|_________| | | | |_____|
|_____________|_______| |________|
| |_________________|
|____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

hananti, V.: hurt, kill. The verb root is han-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = hananti.

bhoga: bhoga-, N.m.: possession, wealth. Nom.Pl. = bhoga.

dummedhaj: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. It is 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-). Acc.Sg.m. = dummedhaj.

no, neg.: not. It is the particle na (not), strengthened by adding the particle u.
Euphonic combination: na + u = no.

ca, conj.: and.

paragavesino: paragavesin-, Adj.: one looking for the opposite shore [of suffering]. It is a compound of:
para-, N.n.: the opposite shore, the other side.
gavesin-, Adj.: seeking, striving after, looking for.
Acc.Pl.m. = paragavesino.

List of Abbreviations

bhogatanhaya: bhogatanha-, N.f.: thirst for [worldly] possessions. It is a compound of:
bhoga-, N.m.: possession, wealth.
tanha-, N.f.: thirst.
Ins.Sg. = bhogatanhaya.

dummedho: dummedha-, Adj.: see above. Nom.Sg.m. = dummedho.

hanti, V.: hurts, kills. The verb root is han-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = hanti.

abbe: abba-, Adj.: other. Acc.Pl.m.: abbe.

eva, part.: just, even.
Euphonic combination: abbe + eva = abbeva.

attanaj: attan-, N.m.: self. Acc.Sg. = attanaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) hananti bhoga dummedhaj (possessions hurt the stupid). The subject is the noun bhoga (possessions, nominative plural). The verb is hananti (hurt, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective dummedhaj (the stupid, accusative singular).
2) no ca paragavesino (not those who are in search for the opposite shore of suffering). The subject is omitted, implying the subject from the previous sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb from the previous sentence. It is negated by the negative particle no (not). The object is the compound paragavesino (those in search of the opposite shore, accusative plural). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
3) bhogatanhaya dummedho hanti abbeva attanaj (with his thirst for possessions the fool hurts the others as well as himself). The subject is the adjective dummedho (the stupid, nominative singular). The verb is hanti (hurts, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the compound bhogatanhaya (by thirst for possessions, instrumental singular). There are two objects, the adjective abbe (others, accusative plural) and the noun attanaj (oneself, accusative singular). They are connected by the particle eva (even).

Commentary:

King of Kosala came to see the Buddha once and told him that a rich old man died that day in
Savatthi. He did not leave any heirs and so all his wealth was taken to the state treasury. He also related that the man was very stingy and did not give anything in charity.
The Buddha then revealed that this man was also very rich in one of his past existences. Once he offered some almsfood to a monk but then in his stinginess regretted his deed. His brother who was also very rich had a son and this man killed the young boy in order to inherit all his brother's wealth. Because of that these deeds he suffered for a long time. In this present existence he did nothing to accumulate merit and therefore missed a good opportunity to do good with his wealth.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

hananti
bhoga
dummedhaj
no
ca
paragavesino
para
gavesino
bhogatanhaya
bhoga
tanhaya
dummedho
hanti
abbe
eva
attanaj