Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# na bhaje papake mitte na bhaje puris'adhame

# bhajetha mitte kalyane bhajetha puris'uttame

# (DhP 78)

Sentence Translation:

One should not associate with evil friends; one should not associate with vile people.
Associate with virtuous friends; associate with noble people.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

na bhaje papake mitte na bhaje purisa+adhame
| | | | | | | |
neg. V.act. Adj.m. N.m. neg. V.act. N.m. Adj.m.
| 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. | 3.Sg.opt. | Acc.Pl.
|______| |______| |_____| |______|
|_____________| |___________|

List of Abbreviations

bhajetha mitte kalyane bhajetha purisa+uttame
| | | | | |
V.act. N.m. Adj.m. V.act. N.m. Adj.m.
2.Pl.opt. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. 2.Pl.opt. | Acc.Pl.
| |______| | |______|
|_____________| |_________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

bhaje, V.: one should associate with. The verb root is bhaj- (to associate with). 3.Sg.act.opt. = bhaje.

papake: papaka-, Adj.: evil, bad. It is the word papa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Acc.Pl.m. = papake.

mitte: mitta-, N.m.: friend. Acc.Pl. = mitte.

na: see above.

bhaje: see above.

List of Abbreviations

puris'adhame: puris'adhama-, N.m.: vile person. It is a compound of:
purisa-, N.m.: person.
adhama-, Adj.: lowest, vilest.
Euphonic combination: purisa- + adhama- = puris'adhama-.
Acc.Pl. = puris'adhame.

bhajetha, V.: associate with. The verb root is bhaj- (to associate with).
2.Pl.act.opt. = bhajetha.

List of Abbreviations

mitte: see above.

kalyane: kalyana-, Adj.: good, virtuous. Ac.Pl.m. = kalyane.

bhajetha: see above.

puris'uttame: puris'uttama-, N.m.: noble person. It is a compound of:
purisa-, N.m.: person.
uttama-, Adj.: highest, noble.
Euphonic combination: purisa- + uttama- = puris'uttama-.
Acc.Pl. = puris'uttame.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four sentences.
1) na bhaje papake mitte (one should not associate with evil friends). The subject is omitted, because from the verb form it is clear that a third person singular pronoun is implied. The verb is bhaje (one should associate, 3rd person, singular, active, optative), which is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun mitte (friends, accusative plural) with its attribute, the adjective papake (evil, accusative plural).
2) na bhaje puris'adhame (one should not associate with vile people). As above, the subject is the omitted personal pronoun for the third person singular. The verb is again bhaje (see above) negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound puris'adhame (vile people, accusative plural).
3) bhajetha mitte kalyane (associate with virtuous friends). This time, the omitted subject is the second person plural pronoun, as implied from the verb form. The verb is bhajetha (you should associate, 2nd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the noun mitte (friends, accusative plural) with its attribute, the adjective kalyane (virtuous, accusative plural).
4) bhajetha puris'uttame (associate with noble people). As in the previous sentence, the subject should be the second person plural pronoun. The verb is bhajetha (as above). The object is the compound puris'uttame (noble people, accusative plural).

Commentary:

Channa was Prince Siddhattha's servant before he renounced the world. When he left the palace and went to homelessness, Channa accompanied him part of the way. After he became the Buddha, Channa also left the worldly life and became a monk. But on account of his close connection with the Buddha, he was very proud and arrogant. He used to scold Sariputta and Moggallana, envying them their positions as two Buddha's chief disciples.
The Buddha admonished him several times, but Channa still continued to abuse as before. This went on for a long time. Just before the Buddha passed away, he told Ananda that after his death, a special punishment should be imposed on Channa - nobody was to talk to him, nobody was to associate with him.
When Channa learned about this, he felt a deep remorse for his behavior. He admitted his mistake and apologized. After that he changed his ways, practiced diligently and soon he became an Arahant.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
bhaje
papake
mitte
puris'adhame
purisa
adhame
bhajetha
kalyane
puris'uttame
uttame