Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# na tena hoti dhammattho yenatthaj sahasa naye

# yo ca atthaj anatthaj ca ubho niccheyya pandito

# (DhP 256)

Sentence Translation:

One is not called righteous because one hastily judges what is good.
Which wise person has thoroughly investigated both right and wrong,
[continued in DhP 257]

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na tena hoti dhamma+ttho yena atthaj sahasa naye
| | | | | | | | |
neg. Pron.n. V.act.in. N.m. Adj.m. Rel.Pron.n. N.m. Adv. V.act.
| Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. | Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. Acc.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt.
|______|_______| |_____| | | |______|
| |_____________| | |_________|
|__________| |____________|
|_____________________________|

List of Abbreviations

yo ca atthaj anatthaj ca ubho niccheyya pandito
| | | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. conj. N.m. N.m. conj. Adj.m. V.act. N.m.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | Acc.Du. 3.Sg.opt. Nom.Sg.
| |_____| |_____| | | |
| |____________| | | |
| |_______________| | |
| |______________| |
|___________________________________|______________|
|_______|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

tena: tad-, Pron.: it. Ins.Sg.n. = tena (by it, because of it).

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhu- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

dhammattho: dhammattha-, Adj.: standing in or based on the Dharma, righteous, just. It is a compound of:
dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
-ttha-, Adj. suffix: standing. It is derived from the verb root tha- (to stand).
Nom.Sg.m. = dhammattho.

yena: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Ins.Sg.n. = yena.

List of Abbreviations

atthaj: attha-, N.m.: good, welfare. Acc.Sg. = atthaj.
Euphonic combination: yena + atthaj = yenatthaj.

sahasa, Adv.: hastily, quickly, without consideration.

naye, V.: lit.: to lead. Here: to draw a conclusion, to judge, to take as, to understand. The verb root is ni-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = naye.

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

ca, conj.: and.

atthaj: see above.

List of Abbreviations

anatthaj: anattha-, N.m.: disadvantage, loss, misfortune, harm. It is the word attha-, N.m.: gain, advantage, profit, negated by the negative prefix an-. Acc.Sg. = anatthaj.

ca: see above.

ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Acc.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.

niccheyya, V.: to investigate, to analyze, to ascertain. The verb root is ci- (to collect) with the prefix nis- (completing, finishing the action). 3.Sg.act.opt. = niccheyya.

pandito: pandita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = pandito.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) na tena hoti dhammattho yenatthaj sahasa naye (one is not called righteous because one hastily judges what is good). This can be further analysed as:
a) na tena hoti dhammattho (one is not called righteous). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective dhammattho (righteous, nominative singular). The pronoun tena (by that, because of; instrumental singular) connects this segment to the following one.
b) yenatthaj sahasa naye (because one hastily judges what is good). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is naye (would judge, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the adverb sahasa (hastily). The object is the noun atthaj (welfare, goodness; accusative singular). The relative pronoun yena (by which, because, instrumental singular) connects this segment to the previous one.
2) yo ca atthaj anatthaj ca ubho niccheyya pandito (which wise person has thoroughly investigated both right and wrong). There are two subjects, the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular) and the noun pandito (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is niccheyya (would investigate, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). There are two objects, the nouns atthaj (good, accusative singular) and anatthaj (wrong, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). They have an attribute, the adjective ubho (both, accusative dual).

Commentary:

Some monks were returning from Savatthi after their almsround. Because there was a heavy rain, they took a shelter in a hall of justice. While there, they observed the judges deciding the cases very quickly after having taken bribes.
The monks later reported the matter to the Buddha who told them this verse (and the following one, DhP 257).

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
tena
hoti
dhammattho
dhamma
ttho
yena
atthaj
sahasa
naye
yo
ca
anatthaj
ubho
niccheyya
pandito