Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# attana hi kataj papaj attana savkilissati

# attana akataj papaj attana va visujjhati

# suddhi asuddhi paccattaj n'abbo abbaj visodhaye

# (DhP 165)

Sentence Translation:

The evil is done by oneself; by oneself one becomes impure.
The evil is undone by oneself; by oneself one becomes pure.
Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

attana hi kataj papaj attana savkilissati
| | | | | |
N.m. part. Adj.n. N.n. N.m. V.act.in.
Ins.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|______|______| | |________|
|___| |
|_______________|

List of Abbreviations

attana akataj papaj attana va visujjhati
| | | | | |
N.m. Adj.n. N.n. N.m. part. V.act.in.
Ins.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres.
|_________| | |_____| |
|____________| |_________|

List of Abbreviations

suddhi asuddhi paccattaj na abbo abbaj visodhaye
| | | | | | |
N.f. N.f. Adv. neg. Adj.m. Adj.m. V.act.caus.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|___________| | |_____|________|_______|
|___________| | |____|
|______|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

attana: attan-, N.m.: self. Ins.Sg. = attana.

hi, part.: indeed.

kataj: kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb kar- (to do). Nom.Sg.n. = kataj.

papaj: papa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Nom.Sg. = papaj.

attana: see above.

savkilissati, V.: gets impure, becomes soiled. The verb root is kilis- (to go bad, to get stained, to be impure) with the prefix sav- (completely). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = savkilissati.

attana: see above.

List of Abbreviations

akataj: akata-, Adj.: not done, undone. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word kata- (see above). Nom.Sg.n. = akataj.

papaj: see above.

attana: see above.

va: a contracted form of eva, part.: just, only.

visujjhati, V.: becomes cleansed, is purified. The verb root is sudh- (to be clean) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = visujjhati.

suddhi: suddhi-, N.f.: purity, purification. Nom.Sg. = suddhi.

List of Abbreviations

asuddhi: asuddhi-, N.f.: impurity, defilement. It is the word suddhi- (see above) with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg. = asuddhi.

paccattaj, Adv.: separately, by oneself, individually.

na, neg.: not.

abbo: abba-, Adj.: other, different. Nom.Sg.m. = abbo.
Euphonic combination: na + abbo = n'abbo.

abbaj: abba-, Adj.: other, different. Acc.Sg.m. = abbaj.

visodhaye, V.: can clean, can purify. The verb root is sudh- (to be clean) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.caus.opt. = visodhaye.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of six syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) attana hi kataj papaj (the evil is done by oneself). The subject is the noun papaj (evil, nominative singular). The past participle kataj (done, nominative singular) serves as a verb in this sentence. It has an attribute, the noun attana (by oneself, instrumental singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
2) attana savkilissati (by oneself one becomes impure). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is savkilissati (becomes impure, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun attana (by oneself, instrumental singular).
3) attana akataj papaj (the evil is undone by oneself). The subject is the noun papaj (evil, nominative singular). The past participle akataj (un-done, nominative singular) serves as a verb in this sentence. It has an attribute, the noun attana (by oneself, instrumental singular).
4) attana va visujjhati (by oneself one becomes pure). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is visujjhati (becomes pure, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun attana (by oneself, instrumental singular). The particle va (just, only) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
5) suddhi asuddhi paccattaj (purity and impurity depend on oneself). There is a double subject in this sentence, the nouns suddhi (purity, nominative singular) and assudhi (impurity, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the adverb paccattaj (individually).
6) n'abbo abbaj visodhaye (no one can purify another). The subject is the adjective abbo (other, nominative singular). The verb is visodhaye (can purify, 3rd person, singular, active, causative, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective abbaj (other, accusative singular).

Commentary:

There was a lay disciple named Culakala. Once he spent the night in the monastery, observing the eight precepts and practicing meditation. In the morning he was returning home and met a group of thieves who were being chased by the owners of the stolen goods. The thieves put their loot in front of Culakala and ran away. The owners mistook Culakala for a thief and started to beat him. Some prostitutes, who were on the way to the river, saw the whole incident and told the people Culakala was innocent. The owners let him go.
When the Buddha was told about this, he replied with this verse and added that Culakala was truly innocent and therefore had nothing to fear.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attana
hi
kataj
papaj
savkilissati
akataj
va
visujjhati
suddhi
asuddhi
paccattaj
na
abbo
abbam
visodhaye