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

List of Abbreviations

# kij te jatahi dummedha kij te ajinasatiya

# abbhantaraj te gahanaj bahiraj parimajjasi

# (DhP 394)

Sentence Translation:

What use is your matted hair, fool? What use is your garment from antelope skin?
Inside you is a jungle, you touch only the outside.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

kij te jatahi dummedha kij te ajina+satiya
| | | | | | | |
Pron.n. Pron.m. N.f. Adj.m. Pron.n. Pron.m. N.n. N.f.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Ins.Pl. Voc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. | Ins.Sg.
| |______| | | | |_____|
|______________| | | |________|
|_________________| |____________|

List of Abbreviations

abbhantaraj te gahanaj bahiraj parimajjasi
| | | | |
N.n. Pron.m. N.n. Adj.n. V.act.in.
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 2.Sg.pres.
|____________| | |________|
|___________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

kij: kim-, Inter.Pron.: what. Nom.Sg.n. = kij.

te: tvaj, Pron.: you. Gen.Sg. = te (your).

jatahi: jata-, N.f.: matted hair (worn by ascetics). Ins.Pl. = jatahi.

dummedha: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. Derived from the word medha-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du- + medha- = dummedha-). Voc.Sg.m. = dummedha.

kij: see above.

te: see above.

List of Abbreviations

ajinasatiya: ajinasati-, N.f.: clothes made of the hide of the black antelope. It is a compound of:
ajina-, N.n.: the hide of the black antelope, worn by ascetics.
sati-, N.f.: cloth, garment.
Ins.Sg. = ajinasatiya.

abbhantaraj: N.n.: interior, the inner part. It is derived from the word abbhantara-, Adj.: internal, inner. Nom.Sg. = abbhantaraj.

te: see above.

gahanaj: gahana-, N.n.: jungle, thicket, impenetrable place. Nom.Sg. = gahanaj.

bahiraj: bahira-, Adj.: external, outside. Acc.Sg.n. = bahiraj.

parimajjasi, V.: [you] touch, stroke, wipe. The verb root is majj- (to submerge) with the prefix pari- (around). 2.Sg.act.in.pres. = parimajjasi.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) kij te jatahi dummedha (what use is your matted hair, fool?). The subject is the adjective dummedha (fool, vocative singular). The object is the pronoun kij (what, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun jatahi (with matted hair, instrumental plural) with its attribute, the pronoun te (your, genitive singular).
2) kij te ajinasatiya (what use is your garment from antelope skin?). The object is the pronoun kij (what, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound ajinasatiya (with the garment from antelope skin, instrumental singular) with its attribute, the pronoun te (your, genitive singular).
3) abbhantaraj te gahanaj (inside you is a jungle). The subject is the noun abbhantaraj (interior, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun te (your, genitive singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the noun gahanaj (jungle, nominative singular).
4) bahiraj parimajjasi (you touch only the outside). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is parimajjasi (you touch, 2nd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective bahiraj (outside, accusative singular).

Commentary:

There was a Brahmin, who climbed a tree near the city of Vesali. He hanged down from it and told the people to bring him gifts - otherwise the city will suffer. Ignorant people indeed brought him many gifts, because they were superstitious and feared the powers of the Brahmin.
When the Buddha heard about it, he spoke this verse, saying that such "Brahmins" could fool only ignorant people.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

kij
te
jatahi
dummedha
ajinasatiya
ajina
satiya
abbhantaraj
gahanaj
bahiraj
parimajjasi