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

List of Abbreviations

# gahakaraka dittho'si puna gehaj na kahasi

# sabba te phasuka bhagga gahakutaj visavkhataj

# visavkharagataj cittaj tanhanaj khayam ajjhaga

# (DhP 154)

Sentence Translation:

Oh, house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again!
All your ribs are broken; the roof is destroyed.
My mind is dissolute; I have attained the end of all cravings.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

gaha+karaka dittho asi puna gehaj na kahasi
| | | | | | | |
N.m. N.m. Adj.m. V.act.in. Adv. N.m. neg. V.act.
| Voc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 2.Sg.pres. | Acc.Sg. | 2.Sg.fut.
|_______| |_________| | | |_____|
|_______________| |_____|________|
|____|

List of Abbreviations

sabba te phasuka bhagga gaha+kutaj visavkhataj
| | | | | | |
Adj.f. Pron.m. N.f. Adj.f. N.m. N.n. Adj.n.
Nom.Pl. Gen.Sg. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| |_______| | |_____| |
|______________| | |__________|
|__________________|

List of Abbreviations

visavkhara+gataj cittaj tanhanaj khayam ajjhaga
| | | | | |
N.m. Adj.n. N.n. N.f. N.m. V.act.
| Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg. 1.Sg.aor.
|____________| | |________| |
|_____________| |___________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

gahakaraka: gahakaraka-, N.m.: house-builder, house-maker. It is a metaphor for thirst or craving that is the maker of the "house", or in other words of the living being. It is a compound of:
gaha-, N.m.: house.
karaka-, N.m.: doer, maker. It is derived from the verb kar-, to do.
Voc.Sg. = gahakaraka.

dittha-, Adj.: seen. It is a p.p. of the verb root dis- (to see). Nom.Sg.m. = dittho.

asi, V.: [you] are. The verb root is as- (to be). 2.Sg.act.in.pres. = asi.
Euphonic combination: dittho + asi = dittho'si.

puna, Adv.: again.

gehaj: geha-, N.m.: house (another spelling of gaha-, N.m.). Acc.Sg. = gehaj.

na, neg.: not.

List of Abbreviations

kahasi, V.: [you] will do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 2.Sg.act.fut. = kahasi.

sabba: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Nom.Pl.f. = sabba.

te: tvaj, Pron.: you. Gen.Sg. = te.

phasuka: phasuka-, N.f.: rib. Nom.Pl. = phasuka.

bhagga: bhagga-, Adj.: broken. It is a p.p. of the verb root bhabj- (to break). Nom.Pl.f. = bhagga.

gahakutaj: gahakuta-, N.n.: top of the house, roof. It is a compound of:
gaha-, N.m.: house.
kuta-, N.n.: top, highest point, peak.
Nom.Sg. = gahakutaj.

visavkhataj: visavkhata-, Adj.: destroyed, annihilated. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do) with the prefixes sam- (together) and vi- (separation, dis-). Nom.Sg.n. = visavkhataj.

List of Abbreviations

visavkharagataj: visavkharagata-, Adj.: dissolute, annihilated. Lit. "gone into dissolution". It is a compound of:
visavkhara-, N.m.: dissolution, annihilation. It is a noun derived from the verb root kar- with the prefixes sam- and vi-. See above under visavkhataj.
gata-, Adj.: gone. It is a p.p. of the verb root gam- (to go).
Nom.Sg.n. = visavkharagataj.

cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind. Nom.Sg. = cittaj.

tanhanaj: tanha-, N.f.: thirst, craving. Gen.Pl. = tanhanaj.

khayam: khaya-, N.m.: destruction, dissolution, end. Acc.Sg. = khayam.

ajjhaga, V.: [I] attained, found, acquired. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefix adhi- (to, into). 1.Sg.act.aor. = ajjhaga.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of six syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) gahakaraka dittho'si (oh, house-builder, you are seen). The subject of this sentence is the compound gahakaraka (oh, house-builder, vocative singular). The verb is asi ([you] are, 2nd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the past participle dittho (seen, nominative singular).
2) puna gehaj na kahasi (you will not build this house again). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is kahasi ([you] will do, 2nd person, singular, active, future). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). It has an attribute, the adverb puna (again). The object is the noun gehaj (house, accusative singular).
3) sabba te phasuka bhagga (all your ribs are broken). The subject is the noun phasuka (ribs, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the pronoun te (your, genitive singular) and the adjective sabba (all, nominative plural). The object is the adjective bhagga (broken, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
4) gahakutaj visavkhataj (the roof is destroyed). The subject is the compound gahakutaj (roof, nominative singular). The verb "to be" is omitted. The object is the past participle visavkhataj (destroyed, nominative singular).
5) visavkharagataj cittaj (my mind is dissolute). The noun cittaj (mind, nominative singular) forms the subject of this sentence. The object is the compound visavkharagataj (dissolute, nominative singular). The verb "to be" is omitted.
6) tanhanaj khayam ajjhaga (I have attained the end of all cravings). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the first person singular pronoun. The verb is ajjhaga ([I] have attained, 1st person, singular, active, aorist). The object is the noun khayam (end, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun tanhanaj (of cravings, genitive plural).

Commentary:

The story for this verse is identical with the story for the preceding one (DhP 153). It forms a part of the first utterance of the new Buddha (The Awakened One) just after he reached the Awakenment. He addressed the "builder" of his personality, the cravings. He finally understood that the craving is the main factor in the repeated rebirth. He destroyed "the ribs" or body of the craving and also "the roof of the house" or the reason for the round of repeated existence. His mind became dissolute, or in other words, he has reached the Nirvana. He has attained the end of all cravings and thus the end of the round of rebirth.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

gahakaraka
gaha
karaka
dittho
asi
puna
gehaj
na
kahasi
sabba
te
phasuka
bhagga
gahakutaj
kutaj
visavkhataj
visavkharagataj
visavkhara
gataj
cittaj
tanhanaj
khayam
ajjhaga