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

List of Abbreviations

# attana hi kataj papaj attajaj attasambhavaj

# abhimatthati dummedhaj vajiraj v'asmamayaj manij

# (DhP 161)

Sentence Translation:

The evil is done by oneself, proceeding from oneself, originating from oneself.
It crushes the fool, just like a diamond crushes a hard gem.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

attana hi kataj papaj atta+jaj atta+sambhavaj
| | | | | | | |
N.m. part. Adj.n. N.n. N.m. Adj.n. N.m. Adj.n.
Ins.Sg. | Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
| | | | |____| |______|
|_______|_____| | | |
|____| | | |
|_______________|________|____________|

List of Abbreviations

abhimatthati dummedhaj vajiraj va asma+mayaj manij
| | | | | | |
V.act.in. Adj.m. N.n. part. N.n. Adj.m. N.m.
3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | | Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|______________| | | |______| |
| | | |_________|
| |_____|____________|
| |_____|
|__________________________|

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.

attajaj: attaja-, Adj.: proceeding from oneself, born from oneself. It is a compound of:
atta-, N.m.: it is the compound form of the word attan-, N.m.: see above.
-ja-, Adj.suf.: born, proceeding. It is derived from the verb root jan- (to give birth, to produce).
Nom.Sg.n. = attajaj.

attasambhavaj: attasambhava-, Adj.: originating from oneself. It is a compound of:
atta-, N.m.: it is the compound form of the word attan-, N.m.: see above.
sambhava-, N.m.: origin, production. It is derived from the verb root bhu- (to be) with the prefix sam- (together).
Nom.Sg.n. = attasambhavaj.

List of Abbreviations

abhimatthati, V.: crushes, destroys. The verb root is math- (to upset, crush) with the prefix abhi- (over). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = abhimatthati.

dummedhaj: 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-). Acc.Sg.m. = dummedhaj.

vajiraj: vajira-, N.n.: diamond. Nom.Sg. = vajiraj.

va, part.: as, like. 156

asmamayaj: asmamaya-, Adj.: made of stone, hard. It is a compound of:
asman-, N.n.: stone. The compound form: asma-.
maya-, adj.: made of, created by, consisting of, produced by.
Acc.Sg.m. = asmamayaj.
Euphonic combination: va + asmamayaj = v'asmamayaj.

manij: mani-, N.m.: gem, crystal. Acc.Sg. = manij.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) attana hi kataj papaj attajaj attasambhavaj (the evil is done by oneself, proceeding from oneself, originating from oneself). The subject is the noun papaj (evil, nominative singular). It has three attributes, the adjectives attajaj (proceeding from oneself, nominative singular) and attasambhavaj (originating from oneself, nominative singular). The third attribute is the past participle kataj (done, nominative singular) with the noun attana (by oneself, instrumental singular) as an attribute. The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly form metrical purposes. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
2) abhimatthati dummedhaj vajiraj v'asmamayaj manij ([it] crushes the fool, just like a diamond [crushes] a hard gem). The subject is omitted; the word papaj (evil) from the previous sentence is implied. The verb is abhimatthati (crushes, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective dummedhaj (foolish one, accusative singular). There is a clause in this sentence, vajiraj v'asmamayaj manij (just like a diamond [crushes] a hard gem). Here, the subject is the noun vajiraj (diamond, nominative singular). The verb is omitted; implying the verb abhimatthati from the main sentence. The object is the noun manij (gem, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective compound asmamayaj ("stone-made", hard; accusative singular). The particle va (like, as) connects the clause to the main sentence.

Commentary:

There was a lay disciple named Mahakala. Once he spent the night in the monastery, observing the eight precepts and meditating. In the morning, on his way home, he stopped by a pond to wash his face. On the same night some thieves broke into a house and were chased by the owners. The thieves dropped their stolen things in front of Mahakala and ran away. The owners mistook Mahakala for a thief and beat him up. Mahakala died of his injuries. Some monks discovered his body and reported the matter to the Buddha.
The Buddha explained, that in one of his previous lives, Mahakala fell in love with a certain woman and had beaten her husband to death. He then added this verse, saying that one's own evil deeds surely come back to their doer and fall back on his head.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attana
hi
kataj
papaj
attajaj
atta
jaj
attasambhavaj
sambhavaj
abhimatthati
dummedhaj
vajiraj
va
asmamayaj
asma
mayaj
manij