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List of Abbreviations

# asantaj bhavanaj iccheyya purekkharaj ca bhikkhusu

# avasesu ca issariyaj pujaj parakulesu ca

# (DhP 73)

Sentence Translation:

He might want undue respect, deference from monks,
supremacy over dwellings and devotion from other families.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

asantaj bhavanaj iccheyya purekkharaj ca bhikkhusu
| | | | | |
Adj.f. N.f. V.act. N.m. conj. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. | Loc.Pl.
|__________| | |_______|____|
|______________|_____________|________________________________

List of Abbreviations

avasesu ca issariyaj pujaj para+kulesu ca
| | | | | | |
N.m. conj. N.m. N.f. Adj. N.m. conj.
Loc.Pl. | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. | Loc.Pl. |
|_______|_____| | |_____| |
| |________|_______|
_____|_____________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

asantaj: asant-, Adj.: nonexistent, undue. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) active present participle sant- (being, existing). Acc.Sg.f. = asantaj.

bhavanaj: bhavana-, N.f.: respect, lit. "putting one's thoughts to". It is derived from the verb bhaveti (to put one's thoughts to, to develop, to meditate). Acc.Sg. = bhavanaj.

iccheyya, V.: might want. The verb root is is-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = iccheyya.

purekkharaj: purekkhara-, N.m.: devotion, deference. It is a noun derived from the verb purekkharoti (to honor). The verb root is kar- (to do) with the prefix pure- (in front). So the literal meaning is "to put in front", therefore "to honor".
Acc.Sg. = purekkharaj.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

bhikkhusu: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Loc.Sg. = bhikkhusu.

avasesu: avasa-, N.m.: dwelling, residence. It is derived from the verb vas- (to stay) with the prefix
a- (at). Loc.Pl. = avasesu.

ca: see above.

issariyaj: issariya-, N.m.: mastership, rulership, supremacy. It is derived from the noun issara-, N.m.: lord, master, ruler. Acc.Sg. = issariyaj.

List of Abbreviations

pujaj: puja-, N.f.: worship, devotion. It is derived from the verb root puj- (to worship).
Acc.Sg. = pujaj.

parakulesu: parakula-, N.m.: different clan, different family. It is a compound of:
para-, Adj.: different, other.
kula-, N.m.: clan, family.
Loc.Pl. = parakulesu.

ca: see above

List of Abbreviations

The subject of this sentence is omitted, implying any personal pronoun. The verb is iccheyya (might want, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). There are several objects. 1) First one is the noun bhavanaj (respect, accusative singular) with its attribute, the active present participle asantaj (undue, nonexistent, accusative singular). 2) Second object is purekkharaj (deference, accusative singular) with the noun bhikkhusu (amongst monks, locative plural) as its attribute. The conjunction ca (and) connects this object to the previous one. 3) Third object is the noun issariyaj (supremacy, accusative singular) with its attribute avasesu (amongst dwellings, locative plural) and the conjunction ca (and), connecting it to the previous objects. 4) Last object is the noun pujaj (devotion, accusative singular). It has the noun parakulesu (amongst other families, locative plural) as an attribute. The conjunction ca (and) connects this object to the previous ones.

Commentary:

A householder named Citta once met Venerable Mahanama, one of the first Buddha's disciples. When listening to the discourse given by him, Citta realized the Dharma. Therefore, he built a monastery in his mango grove and installed a monk named Sudhamma as the resident monk.
On day, Venerable Moggallana and Venerable Sariputta came to the monastery. They gave a discourse and after hearing it, Citta attained the third stage of Awakenment. He then invited Moggallana and Sariputta to his house for alms food the next day. After that he also invited Sudhamma, but he refused, saying that he was invited only after the other two were. Citta repeated his invitation, but Sudhamma again turned it down.
But the next day Sudhamma came to the Citta's house nevertheless. He was invited inside, but he refused, saying that he was on his alms round. But when he saw tasty food being prepared for Moggallana and Sariputta he got envious and angry. He told Citta that he did not want to live in his monastery any longer.
Sudhamma then reported to the Buddha what happened. The Buddha told him, "You have offended a faithful and generous lay disciple. You must go back and apologize for your mistake!" Sudhamma did so, but Citta felt that he still did not realize his mistake fully and refused his apology. Sudhamma went back to the Buddha, who admonished him with this verse (and the following one, see DhP 74). He said, "You should not be attached to this or that dwelling, to this or that lay disciple - in this way the pride and envy will increase."
Sudhamma went back to the Citta's house and this time Citta accepted the apology. Not long after that, Sudhamma attained Arahantship.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

asantaj
bhavanaj
iccheyya
purekkharaj
ca
bhikkhusu
avasesu
issariyaj
pujaj
parakulesu
para
kulesu