Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# alajjitaye lajjanti lajjitaye na lajjare

# micchaditthisamadana satta gacchanti duggatij

# (DhP 316)

Sentence Translation:

They are ashamed of what is not shameful. They are not ashamed of what is shameful.
Believing in wrong theories, the beings go to a miserable existence.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

alajjitaye lajjanti lajjitaye na lajjare
| | | | |
Adj.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. neg. V.med.in.
Loc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Loc.Sg. | 3.Pl.pres.
|__________| | |______|
|_________|

List of Abbreviations

miccha+ditthi+samadana satta gacchanti duggatij
| | | | | |
Adv. N.f. Adj.m. N.m. V.act.in. N.f.
|________| Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Acc.Sg.
|____________| | |________|
|_____________| |
|__________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

alajjitaye: alajjitaya-, Adj: what one should not be ashamed of, what is not shameful. It is the word lajjitaya-, Adj. (what one should be ashamed of, what is shameful; it is a grd. of the verb root lajj-, see below) negated by the negative prefix a-. Loc.Sg.m. = alajjitaye.

lajjanti, V.: are ashamed, are abashed. The verb root is lajj-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = lajjanti.

lajjitaye: lajjitaya-, Adj.: what one should be ashamed of, what is shameful. See above under alajjitaya-. Loc.Sg.m. = lajjitaye.

na, neg.: not.

lajjare, V.: are ashamed, are abashed. The verb root is lajj-. 3.Pl.med.in.pres. = lajjare.

List of Abbreviations

micchaditthisamadana: micchaditthisamadana-, Adj.: believing in a wrong theory. It is a compound of:
miccha, Adv.: wrongly, badly.
ditthi-, N.f.: view, belief, theory, idea. It is derived from the verb root dis- (to see).
samadana-, N.m.: undertaking, taking upon oneself. The verb root is da- (to give) with the prefixes sam- (completely) and a- (towards).
Nom.Pl.m. = micchaditthisamadana.

satta: satta-, N.m.: being. Nom.Pl. = satta.

gacchanti, V.: goes. The verb root is gam-. 3.Pl.in.act.pres. = gacchanti.

duggatij: duggati-, N.f.: a miserable existence, a realm of misery, undesirable rebirth. Composed of:
du-, pref.: bad, difficult.
gati-, N.f.: existence, rebirth. Derived from the verb gam- (to go).
Acc.Sg. = duggatij.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) alajjitaye lajjanti (they are ashamed of what is not shameful). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is lajjanti (are ashamed, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the gerund alajjitaye (of what is not shameful, locative singular).
2) lajjitaye na lajjare (they are not ashamed of what is shameful). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is lajjare (are ashamed, 3rd person, plural, medium, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the gerund lajjitaye (of what is shameful, locative singular).
3) micchaditthisamadana satta gacchanti duggatij (believing in wrong theories, the beings go to a miserable existence). The subject is the noun satta (beings, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective compound micchaditthisamadana (believing in wrong theories, nominative plural). The verb is gacchanti (go, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun duggatij (to a miserable existence, accusative singular).

Commentary:

A group of monks once saw some naked ascetics on their almsround. They were naked but they had their bowls covered with a piece of cloth. The monks remarked that perhaps they should put the cloth on the front part of the body. The naked ascetics retorted that they cover their bowls because they do not want insect and miniature life-form to enter the bowl and be killed by them later.
The monks returned to the monastery and told the story to the Buddha. The Buddha reacted with this verse (and the following one, DhP 317), saying that one who is ashamed of what is not shameful, but not ashamed of a shameful thing, surely will undergo a bad rebirth.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

alajjitaye
lajjanti
lajjitaye
na
lajjare
micchaditthisamadana
miccha
ditthi
samadana
satta
gacchanti
duggatij