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

List of Abbreviations

# yassa kayena vacaya manasa natthi dukkataj

# sajvutaj tihi thanehi tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj

# (DhP 391)

Sentence Translation:

Who does not perform any evil deeds by body, speech or mind,
who is restrained in three ways - him do I call a Brahmin.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yassa kayena vacaya manasa na atthi dukkataj
| | | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. N.m. N.f. N.n. neg. V.act.in. N.n.
Gen.Sg. Ins.Sg. Ins.Sg. Ins.Sg. | 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
| |______|______| |_____| |
| |___________|___________|
| |______|
|_______________________________|
|________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sajvutaj tihi thanehi tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj
| | | | | | |
Adj.m. Num.n. N.n. Pron.m. Pron. V.act.in. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Ins.Pl. Ins.Pl. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
| |______| | | | |
|_____________| | | | |
|_______________| | | |
|_______________|________|________|
| |____|
|______|
_________________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yassa: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Gen.Sg.m. = yassa (whose).

kayena: kaya-, N.m.: body. Ins.Sg. = kayena.

vacaya: vaca-, N.f.: speech, voice. Ins.Sg. = vacaya.

manasa: manas-, N.n.: mind. Inst.Sg. = manasa.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

dukkataj: dukkata-, N.n.: bad deed, evil deed. It is the word kata-, Adj. (done, it is a p.p. of the verb kar-, to do) with the prefix du- (bad, wrong). Nom.Sg. = dukkataj.

List of Abbreviations

sajvutaj: sajvuta-, Adj.: restrained, governed, guarded. It is a p.p. of the verb var- (to obstruct) with the prefix saj- (together, completely). Acc.Sg.m. = sajvutaj.

tihi: ti-, Num.: three. Ins.Pl. = tihi.

thanehi.: thana-, N.n.: place, condition, state. It is derived from the verb root tha- (to stay, to stand). Ins.Pl. = thanehi.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaj, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaj.

brumi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is bru-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brumi.

brahmanaj: brahmana-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brahmanaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
1) yassa kayena vacaya manasa natthi dukkataj (who does not perform any evil deeds by body, speech or mind). The subject is the noun dukkataj (evil deed, nominative singular). It has three attributes, the nouns kayena (by body, instrumental singular), vacaya (by speech, instrumental singular) and manasa (by mind, instrumental singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The relative pronoun yassa (whose, genitive singular) connects this sentence to the following one.
2) sajvutaj tihi thanehi tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj (who is restrained in three ways - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject is the pronoun ahaj (I, nominative singular). The verb is brumi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brahmanaj (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has two attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the past participle sajvutaj (restrained). This word has its own attribute, the noun thanehi (by things, instrumental plural) with its attribute, the numeral tihi (by three, instrumental plural).

Commentary:

Pajapati Gotami was the Buddha's stepmother. When Maya, his own mother, died, Gotami raised the young prince Siddhattha, the future Buddha, herself. Later, when her husband, the Buddha's father, died, she became the first nun and established the Sangha of the nuns (bhikkhuni).
Because she was the first nun, she was not ordained by the Sangha of the nuns, as was the rule. Therefore some nuns began to say that she was actually not nun at all and started to avoid her.
When the Buddha heard about this, he told them that he himself gave Pajapati Gotami her ordination and therefore she was a properly ordained nun. He further said, that Pajapati Gotami was an Arahant and added this verse to praise her qualities.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yassa
kayena
vacaya
manasa
na
atthi
dukkataj
sajvutaj
tihi
thanehi
tam
ahaj
brumi
brahmanaj