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

List of Abbreviations

# na paresaj vilomani na paresaj katakataj

# attano va avekkheyya katani akatani ca

# (DhP 50)

Sentence Translation:

One should not look at others' wrong deeds, what the others have done or not.
One should look only at what one oneself has and has not done.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na paresaj vilomani na paresaj kata+akataj
| | | | | | |
neg. Adj.m. N.n. neg. Adj.m. N.n. N.n.
| Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. | Gen.Pl. | Acc.Sg.
| |_______| | | |_____|
|__________| | |________|
| |_________|
|__________________|
|______________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

attano va avekkheyya katani akatani ca
| | | | | |
Pron.m. part. V.med. N.n. N.n. conj.
Gen.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. |
|________| | |_______|______|
|___________| |
|___________________|
___________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

paresaj: para-, Adj.m.: other. Gen.Pl. = paresaj.

vilomani: viloma-, Adj.: wrong, bad. As an N.n.: wrong thing, wrong behavior.
Acc.Pl. = vilomani.

na: see above.

paresaj: see above.

List of Abbreviations

katakataj: katakata-, N.n.: what is done and undone. A compound of:
kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do).
As an N.n.: done thing, accomplished thing.
akata-, Adj.: undone. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word kata- (see above).
As an N.n.: undone thing, unaccomplished thing.
Acc.Sg. = katakataj.

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

va: a contracted form of eva, part.: just, only.

List of Abbreviations

avekkheyya, V.: should observe, should look at. The verb ikkh- (to see) with the prefix ava- (down, over). 3.Sg.med.opt. = avekkheyya.

katani: kata-, N.n.: see above. Acc.Pl. = katani.

akatani: akata-, N.n.: see above. Acc.Pl. = akatani.

ca, conj.: and.
List of Abbreviations

The two lines of this verse form two parenthetic sentences. There is no subject in any of them. The third person singular pronoun is implied.
In the first sentence, the verb is omitted. The verb avekkheyya from the second sentence serves also as the verb for this sentence, but it is negated by two negative particles na (not). There are two objects, vilomani (wrong deeds, accusative plural) and katakataj (what is done and undone, accusative singular). They both have an attribute, the adjective paresaj (others', genitive plural).
In the second sentence, the verb is avekkheyya (one should look at, 3rd person, singular, medium, optative). There are two objects, katani (what is done, accusative plural) and akatani (what is undone, accusative plural). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The objects have an attribute, the pronoun attano (oneself's, genitive singular) which is strengthened by the particle va (more often as eva; just, only).

Commentary:

In Savatthi once lived a lady who was a disciple of the ascetic Pathika. All her friends and neighbors were the disciples of the Buddha and she often wanted to go to the monastery herself, to hear the Buddha's teachings. But Pathika always prevented her from going there.
So she invited the Buddha to her house for almsgiving instead. He came together with many monks and after the meal he delivered a teaching. She was very impressed and happy and exclaimed, "Well said!"
Pathika heard this from the next room and became very angry. He left the house, cursing the woman and the Buddha.
The lady was very embarrassed by this. But the Buddha advised her not to be concerned about others' curses, but to be only mindful of her own good and bad deeds. At the end she attained the first stage of Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
paresaj
vilomani
katakataj
kata
akataj
attano
va
avekkheyya
katani
akatani
ca