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

List of Abbreviations

# panimhi ce vano nassa hareyya panina visaj

# nabbanaj visam anveti n'atthi papaj akubbato

# (DhP 124)

Sentence Translation:

If there is no wound in the palm, one can carry poison with it.
The poison does not affect one who is without a wound. There is no evil for one, who is not doing it.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

panimhi ce vano na assa hareyya panina visaj
| | | | | | | |
N.m. part. N.m. neg. V.act. V.act. N.m. N.n.
Loc.Sg. | Nom.Sg. | 3.Sg.opt. 3.Sg.opt. Ins.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|________|_____| |_____| |_______| |
| |______________| |_________|
|___________| |
|________________________________|

List of Abbreviations

na abbanaj visam anveti na atthi papaj akubbato
| | | | | | | |
neg. Adj.m. N.n. V.act.in. neg. V.act.in. N.n. Adj.m.
| Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. | 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg.
|______|________|_______| |______| | |
| |____| |___________| |
|______| |____________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

panimhi: pani-, N.m.: palm, hand. Loc.Sg. = panimhi.

ce, part.: if.

vano: vana-, N.m.: wound. Nom.Sg. = vano.

na, neg.: not.

assa, V.: should be. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.opt. = assa.
Euphonic combination: na + assa = nassa.

hareyya, V.: can carry. The verb root is har- (to carry). 3.Sg.act.opt. = hareyya.

List of Abbreviations

panina: pani-, N.m.: hand, palm. Ins.Sg. = panina.

visaj: visa-, N.n.: poison. Acc.Sg. = visaj.

na, neg.: not.

abbanaj: abbana-, Adj.: without a wound. It is the word vana- (see above) with the negative prefix a-. Acc.Sg.m. = abbanaj.
Euphonic combination: na + abbanaj = nabbanaj.

visam: visa-, N.n.: poison. Nom.Sg. = visam.

List of Abbreviations

anveti: follows. The verb root is i- (to go), preceded by prefix anu- (with, along, following). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = anveti.

na, neg.: not.

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

papaj: papa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Nom.Sg. = papaj.

akubbato: akubbant-, Adj.: not doing. It is the word kubbant-, Adj.: doing, which is an a.pr.p. of the verb root kar- (to do), negated by the negative prefix a-. Gen.Sg.m.= akubbato.

List of Abbreviations

This verse contains three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) panimhi ce vano nassa hareyya panina visaj (if there is no wound in the palm, one can carry poison with it). This can be further subdivided into two segments:
a) panimhi ce vano nassa (if there is no wound in the palm). The subject is the noun vano (wound, nominative singular). It has the noun panimhi (in the palm, locative singular) as an attribute. The verb is assa (should be, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb is also modified by the particle ce (if).
b) hareyya panina visaj (one can carry poison with the palm). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is hareyya (one can carry, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun panina (with the hand, instrumental singular). The object is the noun visaj (poison, accusative singular).
2) nabbanaj visam anveti (the poison does not affect one who is without a wound). The subject is the noun visam (poison, nominative singular). The verb is anveti (follows, affects, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective abbanaj (one without a wound, accusative singular).
3) n'atthi papaj akubbato (there is no evil for one, who is not doing it). The subject is the noun papaj (evil, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun akubbato (for the one who is not doing, genitive singular).

Commentary:

A daughter of a rich family once lived in Rajagaha. She was very wise and understood the Dharma - she had attained the first stage of Awakenment. Once she met a hunter named Kukkuta Mitta and they fell in love. They got married and had seven children. After many years, all the children got themselves married.
Once the Buddha walked past one of Kukkuta Mitta's traps and he sat under a tree not far away and rested. Kukkuta Mitta came, saw the footsteps, but he saw no animal. So he thought that somebody stole his animal from the trap. Seeing the Buddha close, he took him to be that person. He became very angry and wanted to kill the Buddha. He took his bow and arrow, but as he was about to shoot he became immobilized just like a statue. His children came next and saw what happened to their father. They too took bows and arrows and tried to shoot the Buddha, only to become "statues" themselves. When they did not return in time, the hunter's wife went to the forest to look for them. When she saw what happened, she shouted to them, "Don't kill my father!"
The hunter and his children thought that the Buddha was her real father and they ceased hating him. Immediately they were able to move again. The woman told them to put down their bows and arrows and when they did so, the Buddha expounded the Dharma. At the end of the discourse, all of them also attained the first stage of Awakenment.
The Buddha went back to the monastery and told the monks the story. Some monks wondered how the woman, having already reached the first stage of Awakenment, could help her husband to take lives of animals. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that if one has no intention to commit evil, no bad karma is actually created.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

panimhi
ce
vano
na
assa
hareyya
panina
visaj
abbanaj
anveti
atthi
papaj
akubbato