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

List of Abbreviations

# sukhakamani bhutani yo dandena na vihijsati

# attano sukham esano pecca so labhate sukhaj

# (DhP 132)

Sentence Translation:

Who does not hurt with a stick beings that desire happiness,
searching for happiness himself, he will reach happiness after death.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sukha+kamani bhutani yo dandena na vihijsati
| | | | | | |
N.n. Adj.n. N.n. Rel.Pron.m. N.m. neg. V.act.in.
| Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|_________| | | | |______|
|___________| | |________|
|______________|____________|
| |_________________________________________I.
|_____________________|
|______________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

attano sukham esano pecca so labhate sukhaj
| | | | | | |
N.m. N.n. Adj.m. V.ger. Pron.m. V.med.in. N.n.
Gen.sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|__________| | | | |________|
|___________| |______|_____________|
I.__________| |_____|
II.______________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

sukhakamani: sukhakama-, Adj.: desiring happiness. It is a compound of:
sukha-, N.n.: happiness.
kama-, N.m.: wish, desire.
Acc.Pl.n. = sukhakamani.

bhutani: bhuta-, N.n.: being, creature. Acc.Pl. = bhutani.

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

dandena: danda-, N.m.: stick, club, punishment. Ins.Sg. = dandena.

na, neg.: not.

vihijsati, V.: hurts. The verb root is hijs- (to hurt) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vihijsati.

List of Abbreviations

attano: attan-, N.m./Pron.: self, oneself. Gen.Sg. = attano.

sukham: sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Acc.Sg. = sukham.

esano: asana-, Adj.: searching, striving for. It is an med.pr.p. of the verb esati (to search, to strive for). The verb root is is- (to wish) with the prefix a- (towards). Nom.Sg.m. = esano.

pecca, V.ger.: after death. It is a ger. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix pa- (directional prefix of forward motion). This verb means literally "to go over", it is used as an euphemism for "to die".

so: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = so.

labhate, V.: obtains, gets. The verb root is labh-. 3.Sg.med.in.pres. = labhate.

sukhaj: see above (sukham).

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
1) sukhakamani bhutani yo dandena na vihijsati attano sukham esano (who does not hurt with a stick beings that desire happiness, searching for happiness himself). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the medium present participle esano (searching, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the noun sukham (happiness, accusative singular) with the noun/pronoun attano (one's own, genitive singular) as an attribute. The noun is vihijsati (hurts, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the noun dandena (with a stick, instrumental singular). The object is the noun bhutani (beings, accusative plural) with its attribute, the compound sukhakamani (desiring happiness, accusative plural).
2) pecca so labhate sukhaj (he will reach happiness after death). The subject is the personal pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is labhate (obtains, reaches, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the gerund pecca (having gone over, after death). The object is the noun sukhaj (happiness, accusative singular).

Commentary:

The story for this verse is identical with that to the previous one (DhP 131).
To abstain from violence is one of the basic principles of the Buddha's teaching. Especially in the case of the young men hurting the snake it can be seen that to hurt somebody first to stop him from hurting me is not a good idea.
We should practice the universal loving kindness, known as metta and try to radiate it to all the directions. When faced with danger, we should radiate this metta towards the being that intends or might intend to hurt us.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

sukhakamani
sukha
kamani
bhutani
yo
dandena
na
vihijsati
attano
sukham
esano
pecca
so
labhate