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

List of Abbreviations

# na taj dalhaj bandhanam ahu dhira

# yad ayasaj darujaj babbajaj ca

# sarattaratta manikundalesu

# puttesu daresu ca ya apekkha

# (DhP 345)

Sentence Translation:

That fetter is not really strong, say the wise,
that is made of iron, wood or grass.
Strong infatuation with gems and ornaments,
whatever longing there is for sons and wives,
[continued in DhP 346]

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na taj dalhaj bandhanam ahu dhira
| | | | | |
neg. Pron.n. Adj.n. N.n. V.act. Adj.m.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Pl.perf. Nom.Pl.
| |________|_______| |________|
| |____| |
|____________| |
|___________________________|________________
|______________|

List of Abbreviations

yad ayasaj darujaj babbajaj ca
| | | | |
Pron.n. Adj.n. Adj.n. Adj.n. conj.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. |
| |_______|_______| |
| |__________|
|____________________________|
______________|

List of Abbreviations

saratta+ratta mani+kundalesu
| | | |
Adj. N.f. N.m. N.m.
| Nom.Sg. | Loc.Pl.
|________| |______|
|____________|
|______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

puttesu daresu ca ya apekkha
| | | | |
N.m. N.m. conj. Rel.Pron.f. N.f.
Loc.Pl. Loc.Pl. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_________| | | |
|_________| | |
|___________|_________|
|_____|
___________________|
|___________________________________[continued in DhP 346]

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

taj: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.n. = taj.

dalhaj: dalha-, Adj.: strong, resolute, firm. Nom.Sg.n. = dalhaj.

bandhanam: bandhana-, N.n.: bond, fetter. Derived from the verb bandh- (to bind, to fasten). Nom.Sg. = bandhanam.

ahu, V.: said, proclaimed. The verb root is ah- (to speak). 3.Pl.act.perf. = ahu.

dhira: dhira-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Pl.m. = dhira.

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

List of Abbreviations

ayasaj: ayasa-, Adj.: made of iron. It is derived from the word ayo-, N.n.: iron. Nom.Sg.n. = ayasaj.

darujaj: made of wood, wooden. It is derived from the word daru-, N.n.: wood with the suffix -ja. This suffix is derived from the verb root jan- (to give birth, to produce). Nom.Sg.n. = darujaj.

babbajaj: babbaja-, Adj.: made of the babbaja grass. It is derived from the word babbaja- N.m.: a sort of coarse grass or reed. Nom.Sg.n. = babbajaj.

ca, conj.: and.

sarattaratta: sarattaratta-, N.f.: strong infatuation with, attachment to. It is a compound of:
saratta-, Adj.: devoted, attached. It is a p.p. of the verb root raj- (to color) with the prefix saj- (together).
ratta-, Adj.: excited, infatuated. It is a p.p. of the verb root raj- (to color).
Nom.Sg. = sarattaratta.

List of Abbreviations

manikundalesu: manikundala-, N.m.: gems and ornaments. It is a compound of:
mani-, N.m.: gem, crystal.
kundala-, N.m.: earring, ornament.
Loc.Pl. = manikundalesu.

puttesu: putta-, N.m.: son. Loc.Pl. = puttesu.

daresu: dara-, N.m.: wife. Loc.Pl. = daresu.

ca: see above.

ya: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.f. = ya.

apekkha: apekkha-, N.f.: affection, desire, longing for. It is derived from the verb root ikh- (to look) with the prefix apa- (down, on). Nom.Sg. = apekkha.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two separate sentences. They are:
1) na taj dalhaj bandhanam ahu dhira yad ayasaj darujaj babbajaj ca (that fetter is not really strong, say the wise, that is made of iron, wood or grass). This can be analysed into two segments:
a) ahu dhira (say the wise). The subject is the adjective dhira (wise ones, nominative plural). The verb is ahu (said, 3rd person, plural, active, perfect tense).
b) na taj dalhaj bandhanam yad ayasaj darujaj babbajaj ca (that fetter is not really strong, that is made of iron, wood or grass). This can be further analysed into two sentences:
I) na taj dalhaj bandhanam (that fetter is not really strong). The subject is the noun bandhanam (fetter, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun taj (that, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective dalhaj (strong, nominative singular).
II) yad ayasaj darujaj babbajaj ca (that is made of iron, wood or grass). There are three subjects, the adjectives ayasaj (made of iron, nominative singular), darujaj (wooden, nominative singular) and babbajaj (made of babbaja grass, nomaitnvie singular). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The relative adverb yad (that which, nominative singular) connects this sentence to the previous one.
2) sarattaratta manikundalesu puttesu daresu ca ya apekkha (strong infatuation with gems and ornaments, whatever longing there is for sons and wives). There are two subjects in this sentence: a) the compound sarattaratta (strong infatuation, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound manikundalesu (with gems and ornaments, locative plural). b) the noun apekkha (longing, nominative singular). This word has two attributes, the nouns puttesu (for sons, locative plural) and daresu (to wives, locative plural). They are connected by the conjunction ca (and). The relative pronoun ya (that which, nominative singular) connects the sentence to the following one (DhP 346).

Commentary:

A group of monks once went to the city of Savatthi for almsfood. On their way they observed some prisoners being led with their hands and legs chained in bonds. When they returned to the monastery they related the matter to the Buddha.
The Buddha spoke this verse (and the following one, DhP 346) and explained that passion and craving were much stronger fetters than all the chains and handcuffs.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
taj
dalhaj
bandhanam
ahu
dhira
yad
ayasaj
darujaj
babbajaj
ca
sarattaratta
saratta
ratta
manikundalesu
mani
kundalesu
puttesu
daresu
ya
apekkha