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

List of Abbreviations

# yassa pure ca paccha ca majjhe ca natthi kibcanaj

# akibcanaj anadanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj

# (DhP 421)

Sentence Translation:

For whom there is nothing before, after or now,
One who is without attachments and without clinging - him do I call a Brahmin.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yassa pure ca paccha ca majjhe ca na atthi kibcanaj
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Rel.Pron.m. Adv. conj. Adv. conj. Adj. conj. neg. V.act.in. Pron.n.
Gen.Sg. |____| |____| Loc.Sg. | | 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
| | | |_____| |______| |
| |_________|__________| | |
| |______________| |
|_____________________________________|_________________|
|_________________|
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List of Abbreviations

akibcanaj anadanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj
| | | | | |
Adj.m Adj.m. Pron.m. Pron. V.act.in. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|_____________| | | | |
|_____________| | | |
|_____________|________|________|
| |_____|
|______|
_____________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yassa: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Gen.Sg.m. = yassa (whose).

pure, Adv.: before, formerly.

ca, conj.: and.

paccha, Adv.: afterwards, after that, later.

majjhe: majjha-, Adj.: middle. Here: present (in the middle between the past and the future). Loc.Sg. = majjhe.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

List of Abbreviations

kibcanaj: kibcana-, Pron.n.: something, anything. Nom.Sg. = kibcanaj.

akibcanaj: akibcana-, Adj.: having nothing [i.e. having no attachments]. It is the word kibcana-, N.n.: something, anything with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.m. = akibcanaj.

anadanaj: anadana-, Adj.: free from clinging. It is the word adana-, N.n.: attachment, clinging (this word is derived from the verb da-, to give with the prefix a-, towards; the meaning of the verb is "to take, to grasp") negated by the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg.m. = anadanaj.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaj, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaj.

brumi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is bru-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brumi.

brahmanaj: brahmana-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brahmanaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
1) yassa pure ca paccha ca majjhe ca natthi kibcanaj (for whom there is nothing before, after or now). The subject is the pronoun kibcanaj (something, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the relative pronoun yassa (whose, genitive singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has three attributes, the adverbs pure (before) and paccha (after) and the adjective majjhe (now, in the middle, locative singular). They are connected by three conjunctions ca (and).
2) akibcanaj anadanaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj (who is without attachments and without clinging - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject of this sentence is the pronoun ahaj (I, nominative singular). The verb is brumi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brahmanaj (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has three attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the adjectives akibcanaj (without attachments, accusative singular) and anadanaj (without clinging, accusative singular).

Commentary:

A man named Visakha from Savatthi heard a discourse of the Buddha and attained the third stage of Awakenment. He asked his wife Dhammadinna for permission to become a monk. His wife did not accept his property, but instead decided to become a nun. Soon she attained the Arahantship.
Once the former husband and wife met and discussed the Dharma. Dhammadinna would gladly discuss with him everything up to and including the third stage of Awakenment. But she would not talk about the full Arahantship, because, as she said, Visakha has not attained this yet.
The Buddha then confirmed with this verse that Dhammadinna had attained the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yassa
pure
ca
paccha
majjhe
na
atthi
kibcanaj
akibcanaj
anadanaj
tam
ahaj
brumi
brahmanaj