Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# mavoca pharusaj kabci vutta pativadeyyu taj

# dukkha hi sarambhakatha patidanda phuseyyu taj

# (DhP 133)

Sentence Translation:

Do not say anything harsh, those spoken to might reply to that.
Angry talk is painful, retribution might be attached to it.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

ma avoca pharusaj kabci vutta pativadeyyu taj
| | | | | | |
neg. V.act. Adj.f. Pron.f. Adj.m. V.act. Pron.f.
| 2.Sg.aor. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.opt. Acc.Sg.
|______| |_______| | |_______|
|_______________| |__________|

List of Abbreviations

dukkha hi sarambha+katha pati+danda phuseyyu taj
| | | | | | | |
Adj.f. part. N.m. N.f. Pref. N.m. V.act. Pron.f.
Nom.Sg. | | Nom.Sg. | Nom.Pl. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg.
| | |_______| |____| |_______|
|_________|________| |_____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

ma, neg.: not, do not. Used with verbs in imperative instead of the more usual negative particle na.

avoca, V.: said. The verb root is vac- (to say). 2.Sg.act.aor. = avoca.
Although the meaning of this word is [you] said, in connection with the negative particle ma it is used in imperative sense: ma avoca = dontt say.
Euphonic combination: ma+avoca = mavoca.

pharusaj: pharusa-, Adj.: harsh, unkind, rough. Acc.Sg.f. = pharusaj.

kabci: kibci-, Pron.: whatever. Acc.Sg.f. = kabci.

vutta: vutta-, Adj.: spoken, said. It is a p.p. of the verb root vac- (to say, to speak). Nom.Pl.m. = vutta.

pativadeyyu, V.: might reply. The verb root is vad- (to say, to speak) with the prefix pati- (back). 3.Pl.act.opt. = pativadeyyu.

taj: Pron. tad-, that. Acc.Sg.f. = taj.

List of Abbreviations

dukkha: dukkha-, Adj.: painful, unpleasant, causing suffering. Nom.Sg.f. = dukkha.

hi, part.: indeed.

sarambhakatha: sarambhakatha-, N.f.: angry talk, haughty talk. It is a compound of:
sarambha-, N.m.: anger.
katha-, N.f.: talk, speech.
Nom.Sg. = sarambhakatha.

patidanda: patidanda-, N.m.: retaliation, retribution. It is a compound of:
pati-, Pref.: against, back.
danda-, N.m.: stick, club, punishment.
Nom.Pl. = patidanda.

phuseyyu, V.: might touch, might reach, might befall. The verb root is phus- (to touch).
3.Pl.act.opt. = phuseyyu.

taj: Pron. tad-, that. Acc.Sg.f. = taj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) mavoca pharusaj kabci (do not say anything harsh). The subject of this sentence is omitted. The verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is avoca ([you] said, 3rd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle ma (do not). These two words form a phrase "do not say". The object is the adjective pharusaj (harsh, accusative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun kabci (anything, accusative singular).
2) vutta pativadeyyu taj (those spoken to might reply to that). The subject of this sentence is the past participle vutta (spoken, nominative plural). The verb is pativadeyyu (might reply, 3rd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the pronoun taj (to that, accusative singular).
3) dukkha hi sarambhakatha (angry talk is painful). The subject is the compound sarambhakatha (angry talk, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective dukkha (painful, nominative singular). The sentence is stressed by the particle hi (indeed) which serves manily for metrical purposes.
4) patidanda phuseyyu taj (retribution might be attached to it). The subject is the compound patidanda (retributions, nominative plural). The verb is phuseyyu (might be attached, 3rd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the pronoun taj (to it, accusative singular).

Commentary:

There was a monk named Kundadhana. From the day he became a monk, others saw a female form always following him everywhere. But he himself did not see anything.
Once he went out on to gather alms food and people offered him two portions of food, saying that one was for him and the other for his friend. Then they reported to the king that one of the monks seems to have a girlfriend. The king Pasenadi started to investigate the matter.
When the king was in the room with the monk, the female form was not present. The monk himself also professed his innocence. When the king sent him out of the room, the female form suddenly appeared close to him. The king realized that the woman was not real and the monk was really innocent. So he invited him for almsfood.
The other monks were not happy and started to scold Kundadhana, saying that in fact he had a girlfriend somewhere and that he had no morals. Kundadhana got angry and retorted with his own accusations.
The Buddha then admonished him and told him this verse. He further explained, that in his previous life Kundadhana was a deity who wanted to create discord between two monks who very good friends. He would assume the form of a woman and follow closely one of them, thus hoping to stop their friendship. For that deed a female form was now following him.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ma
avoca
pharusaj
kabci
vutta
pativadeyyu
taj
dukkha
hi
sarambhakatha
sarambha
katha
patidanda
pati
danda
phuseyyu