Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# pubbaj ce puriso kayira kayira naj punappunaj

# tamhi chandaj kayiratha sukho pubbassa uccayo

# (DhP 118)

Sentence Translation:

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again.
One should wish for it. Accumulation of good is pleasant.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

pubbaj ce puriso kayira kayira naj punappunaj
| | | | | | |
N.n. part. N.m. V.act. V.act. Pron.n. Adv.
Acc.Sg. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. |
| |_____|_______| |_______|_______|
| |___| |___|
|___________| |
|_____________________________|

List of Abbreviations

tamhi chandaj kayiratha sukho pubbassa uccayo
| | | | | |
Pron.n. N.m. V.med. Adj.m. N.n. N.m.
Loc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_________| | | |_______|
|____________| |___________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

pubbaj: pubba-, N.n.: good deed, meritorious deed, merit. Acc.Sg. = pubbaj.

ce, part.: if.

puriso: purisa-, N.m.: person. Nom.Sg. = puriso.

kayira, V.: would do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.act.opt. = kayira.

naj: ena-, Pron.: it. In Pali used only in Acc.Sg.m.: naj (him).

punappunaj, Adv.: again and again. It is the word puna, Ind.: again, doubled in intensifying sense. The double -p- is a result of the euphonic combination.

List of Abbreviations

tamhi: tad-, Pron.: that. Loc.Sg.n. = tamhi.

chandaj: chanda-, N.m.: wish, desire, intention. Acc.Sg. = chandaj.

kayiratha, V.: should do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.med.opt. = kayiratha.

sukho: sukha-, Adj.: pleasant, agreeable, good. Nom.Sg.m. = sukho.

pubbassa: pubba-, N.n.: see above. Gen.Sg. = pubbassa.

uccayo: uccaya-, N.m.: heaping up, accumulation. It is derived from the verb root ci- (to collect) with the prefix ud- (up). Nom.Sg. = uccayo.

List of Abbreviations

This verse contains three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) pubbaj ce puriso kayira kayira naj punappunaj (should a person do good, let him do it again and again). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
a) pubbaj ce puriso kayira (should a person do good). The subject is the noun puriso (person, nominative singular). The verb is kayira (should do, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is modified by the particle ce (if). The object is the noun pubbaj (evil, accusative singular).
b) kayira naj punappunaj (let him do it again and again). The subject is omitted; the word puriso from the first sentence is implied. The verb is kayira (should do, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The adverb punappunaj (again and again) forms an attribute to the verb. The object is the pronoun naj (it, accusative singular).
2) tamhi chandaj kayiratha (one should wish for it, lit.: one should make a wish in it). As above, the subject is omitted, implying the noun puriso from the first sentence. The verb is kayiratha (should do, 3rd person, singular, medium, optative). The object is the noun chandaj (wish, accusative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun tamhi (in it, locative singular).
3) sukho pubbassa uccayo (accumulation of good is pleasant). The subject is the noun uccayo (accumulation, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun pubbassa (of good, genitive singular). The object is the adjective sukho (pleasant, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".

Commentary:

Venerable Mahakassapa once stayed in a cave, practicing meditation for seven days. When he arose from his meditation he wanted to give somebody a chance to gain merit by offering him food. He saw a young girl cooking meal. So he stood by her door looking for almsfood. She saw him and happily offered him some food, wishing that the merit gained offering might help her to realize the truth.
After some time she was bitten by a snake and died. She was reborn as a goddess in Tavatimsa heaven.
She understood that she was reborn there only because of the merit gained by offering almsfood to Kassapa. She wished to continue doing good deeds. So every morning she would come to the monastery, sweep the floor and fill the water-pots. At first Kassapa thought that some diligent young novice was doing this service, but later he found out that a goddess performed them all. He advised her not to come to the monastery too often, because people might start talking, if they saw her often there. She was quite upset and begged him not to destroy her chances for gaining more merit.
The Buddha heard her and supported Kassapa's opinion. He told her that although performing good deeds was very pleasant, she should not continue coming to the monastery every day.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pubbaj
ce
puriso
kayira
naj
punappunaj
puna
tamhi
chandaj
kayiratha
sukho
pubbassa
uccayo