Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# na antalikkhe na samuddamajjhe na pabbatanaj vivaraj pavissa

# na vijjati so jagatippadeso yatthatthito mucceyya papakamma

# (DhP 127)

Sentence Translation:

Not in the air, not in the middle of the ocean, not entering the hole in the mountains.
There is no place in the world, where being one would be released from the [consequences of] evil deeds.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na antalikkhe na samudda+majjhe na pabbatanaj vivaraj pavissa
| | | | | | | | |
neg. N.n. neg. N.m. Adj.m. neg. N.m. N.n. V.ger.
| Loc.Sg. | | Loc.Sg. | Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. |
|______| | |_______| | |_________| |
|_________| |__________|___________|
|_____|

List of Abbreviations

na vijjati so jagati+ppadeso yattha+tthito mucceyya papa+kamma
| | | | | | | | | |
neg. V.act.in. Pron.m. N.n. N.m. Rel.Adv. Adj.m. V.act. Adj. N.n.
| 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. | Abl.Sg.
|_______| | |_____| |______| | |_____|
| |_________| | |_________|
| | |________________|
| |__________________________|
|_____________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

antalikkhe: antalikkha-, N.n.: sky, atmosphere. Loc.Sg. = antalikkhe.

na, neg.: not.

samuddamajjhe: samuddamajjha-, Adj.: middle of the ocean. It is a compound of:
samudda-, N.m.: sea, ocean.
majjha-, Adj.: middle.
Loc.Sg.m. = samuddamajjhe.

na, neg.: not.

pabbatanaj: pabbata-, N.m.: mountain. Gen.Pl. = pabbatanaj.

List of Abbreviations

vivaraj: vivara-, N.n.: opening, hole. Acc.Sg. = vivaraj.

pavissa, V.ger.: having entered. The verb root is vis- (to enter) with the strengthening prefix pa-.

na, neg.: not.

vijjati, V.: exists, is found. The verb root is vid- (to find). 3.Sg.pas.in.pres. = vijjati. The form vijjati is sometimes used in poetry.

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

jagatippadeso: jagatippadesa-, N.m.: a place in the world. It is a compound of:
jagat-, N.n.: world. Compound form = jagati-.
padesa-, N.m.: place, spot, location, district.
Euphonic combination: jagati- + padesa- = jagatippadesa-.
Nom.Sg. = jagatippadeso.

List of Abbreviations

yatthatthito: yatthatthita-, Adj.: where being. It is a compound of:
yattha, Rel.Adv.: where.
t hita-, Adj.: being, lit. standing. It is a p.p. of the verb root tha- (to stand).
Euphonic combination: yattha + thita- = yatthatthita-.
Nom.Sg.m. = yatthatthito.

mucceyya, V.: can be released, can be freed. The verb is muc-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = mucceyya.

papakamma: papakamma-, N.n.: evil deed. It is a compound of:
papa-, Adj.: evil, wrong.
kamma-, N.n.: deed, action. It is derived from the verb kar-, to do.
Abl.Sg. = papakamma.

List of Abbreviations

In the first line of this verse, there are three syntactically isolated incomplete sentences. They are:
1) na antalikkhe (not in the air). The subject and verb are omitted. The verb "to be" is implied and it is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has an attribute, the noun antalikkhe (in the air, locative singular).
2) na samuddamajjhe (not in the middle of the ocean). The subject and verb are omitted. The verb "to be" is implied and it is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has an attribute, the compound samuddamajjhe (in the middle of the ocean, locative singular).
3) na pabbatanaj vivaraj pavissa (not entering the hole in the mountains). The subject is omitted. The verb is pavissa (having entered, gerundive). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun vivaraj (the hole, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun pabbatanaj (of mountains, genitive plural).
The second line forms the main sentence. It can be further subdivided into two segments:
1) na vijjati so jagatippadeso (there is no place in the world). The subject is the compound jagatippadeso (a place in the world, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the personal pronoun so (that, nominative singular). The verb is vijjati (exists, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not).
2) yatthatthito mucceyya papakamma (where being one would be released from the [consequences of] evil deeds). The subject is the compound yatthatthito (standing where, nominative singular). The verb is mucceyya (would be released, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the compound papakamma (from evil deeds, ablative singular).

Commentary:

Three groups of monks were traveling from far away to see the Buddha. On the way strange things happened to them.
The first group stayed in a village on their way. Some people were cooking meal when their hut caught fire and burned. A crow was flying over the place, got caught in the fire and died.
When they met the Buddha, he told them this story. One farmer had a very lazy ox. It would not work, it would only lie down, eat and sleep. The farmer once got so angry, that he put a rope around the neck of the animal and set fire to it. So the ox died. Because of this, the farmer was reborn as a crow and died in the fire himself.
The second group took a boat. In the middle of the ocean the ship would not suddenly move. They searched for the unlucky person, who is causing this to happen. Three times lots were drawn and three times it fell on the captain's wife. So at the end they tied a pot of sand to her neck and drowned her. The ship then continued to the port safely and the monks got to see the Buddha.
He told them, that once there was a woman who had a pet dog. The dog would follow her everywhere; it just would not stay away even for a moment. Some people were making fun of her. So she felt ashamed, tied a pot of sand around the dog's neck and drowned it. Because of this, she was reborn as that unlucky woman who was drowned by other people.
The third group of seven monks stayed in a cave overnight. In the middle of the night a big rock fell from the mountain above and blocked the entrance into the cave. People discovered them in the morning and tried to move the rock, but they were unable to do it. Only on the seventh day they moved the rock away and the monks were free.
To them the Buddha related the story of seven cowherds who chased an iguana into a mound and for fun closed all the entrances. They let the iguana out only after seven days. So in this life they were reborn as the seven monks who were trapped in the cave for a week.
At the end the Buddha said this verse, saying that one can never escape the consequences of evil
deeds. They will find us anywhere, nobody can hide from them, even in the air, ocean or in a cave - the consequences will befall us surely.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
antalikkhe
samuddamajjhe
samudda
majjhe
pabbatanaj
vivaraj
pavissa
vijjati
so
jagatippadeso
jagati
padeso
yatthatthito
yattha
thito
mucceyya
papakamma
papa
kamma