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

List of Abbreviations

# sukhakamani bhutani yo dandena vihijsati

# attano sukham esano pecca so na labhate sukhaj

# (DhP 131)

Sentence Translation:

Who hurts with a stick beings that desire happiness,
searching for happiness himself, he will not reach happiness after death.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

sukha+kamani bhutani yo dandena vihijsati
| | | | | |
N.n. Adj.n. N.n. Rel.Pron.m. N.m. V.act.in.
| Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|________| | | |_______|
|___________| | |
|______________|___________|
| |_________________________________________I.
|_____________________|
|______________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

attano sukham esano pecca so na labhate sukhaj
| | | | | | | |
N.m. N.n. Adj.m. V.ger. Pron.m. neg. V.med.in. N.n.
Gen.sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|__________| | | | |______| |
|____________| | | |__________|
I.__________| |______|______________|
|______|
II._______________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

sukhakamani: sukhakama-, Adj.: desiring happiness. It is a compound of:
sukha-, N.n.: happiness.
kama-, N.m.: wish, desire.
Acc.Pl.n. = sukhakamani.

bhutani: bhuta-, N.n.: being, creature. Acc.Pl. = bhutani.

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

dandena: danda-, N.m.: stick, club, punishment. Ins.Sg. = dandena.

vihijsati, V.: hurts. The verb root is hijs- (to hurt) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vihijsati.

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

List of Abbreviations

sukham: sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Acc.Sg. = sukham.

esano: asana-, Adj.: searching, striving for. It is an med.pr.p. of the verb esati (to search, to strive for). The verb root is is- (to wish) with the prefix a- (towards). Nom.Sg.m. = esano.

pecca, V.ger.: after death. It is a ger. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix pa- (directional prefix of forward motion). This verb means literally "to go over", it is used as an euphemism for "to die".

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

na, neg.: not.

labhate, V.: obtains, gets. The verb root is labh-. 3.Sg.med.in.pres. = labhate.

sukhaj: see above (sukham).

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two connected sentences. They are:
1) sukhakamani bhutani yo dandena vihijsati attano sukham esano (who hurts with a stick beings that desire happiness, searching for happiness himself). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the medium present participle esano (searching, nominative singular). This word has its own attribute, the noun sukham (happiness, accusative singular) with the noun/pronoun attano (one's own, genitive singular) as an attribute. The noun is vihijsati (hurts, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun dandena (with a stick, instrumental singular). The object is the noun bhutani (beings, accusative plural) with its attribute, the compound sukhakamani (desiring happiness, accusative plural).
2) pecca so na labhate sukhaj (he will not reach happiness after death). The subject is the personal pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is labhate (obtains, reaches, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the gerund pecca (having gone over, after death). The object is the noun sukhaj (happiness, accusative singular).

Commentary:

The Buddha once saw a group of young men from Savatthi beating a snake with sticks. He asked why were they doing such thing. The youths answered that they were afraid of being bitten by the snake therefore they beat it. The Buddha told them this verse, saying that if we do not wish to be harm by some being the first step is not to harm it ourselves.
The young men attained the first stage of Awakenment after hearing this discourse.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

sukhakamani
sukha
kamani
bhutani
yo
dandena
vihijsati
attano
sukham
esano
pecca
so
na
labhate