Gatha | Sentence Translation | Sentence Structure
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List of Abbreviations

# yodha tanhaj pahatvana anagaro paribbaje

# tanhabhavaparikkhinaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj

# (DhP 416)

Sentence Translation:

Who in this world has renounced thirst, wanders around homeless,
him, who has destroyed the existence of thirst - him do I call a Brahmin.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

yo idha tanhaj pahatvana anagaro paribbaje
| | | | | |
Rel.Pron.m. Adv. N.f. V.ger. N.m. V.act.
Nom.Sg. | Acc.Sg. | Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
| | |________| | |
| |________| | |
|________________|________________| |
| |________________|
|_______________|
|__________________________________

List of Abbreviations

tanha+bhava+parikkhinaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj
| | | | | | |
N.f. N.m. Adj.m. Pron.m. Pron. V.act.in. N.m.
|_______| Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
|_____________| | | | |
|______________| | | |
|_____________|_________|______|
| |_____|
|_______|
__________________________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

idha, Adv.: here, in this world.
Euphonic combination: yo + idha = yodha.

tanhaj: tanha-, N.f.: thirst, craving. Acc.Sg. = tanhaj.

pahatvana, V.ger.: having renounced, abandoned or eliminated. It is a ger. of the verb ha- (to leave, to give up) with the strengthening prefix pa-.

anagaro: anagara-, N.m.: monk, homeless wanderer. It is derived from the word agara-, N.n.: home, abode, negated by the negative prefix an-. Nom.Sg. = anagaro.

paribbaje, V.: wander about [as monks; not necessarily Buddhist]. The verb root is vaj- (to go) with the prefix pari- (around). 3.Sg.act.opt. = paribbaje.

List of Abbreviations

tanhabhavaparikkhinaj: tanhabhavaparikkhina-, Adj.: by whom the existence of thirst has been completely destroyed. It is a compound of:
tanha-, N.f.: thirst, craving.
bhava-, N.m.: becoming, existence. It is derived from the verb root bhu- (to be).
parikkhina-, Adj.: completely removed, destroyed. It is a p.p. of the verb root khi- (to remove, to destroy) with the prefix pari- (all around, completely).
Acc.Sg.m. = tanhabhavaparikkhinaj.

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-, Nj.: Brahmin, a holy man. Acc.Sg. = brahmanaj.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
1) yodha tanhaj pahatvana anagaro paribbaje (who in this world has renounced thirst, wanders around homeless). This can be further analyzed into the main sentence a) and the clause b):
a) yo anagaro paribbaje (who wanders around homeless). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun anagaro (homeless, nominative singular). The verb is paribbaje (should wander around, 3rd person, singular, active, optative).
b) idha tanhaj pahatvana (in this world having renounced thirst). The verb is in gerund, pahatvana (having renounced). It has an attribute, the adverb idha (here). The object is the noun tanhaj (thirst, accusative singular).
2) tanhabhavaparikkhinaj tam ahaj brumi brahmanaj (him, who has destroyed the existence of thirst - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject of this sentence 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 compound tanhabhavaparikkhinaj (who has destroyed the existence of thirst, accusative singular).

Commentary:

This verse has two stories:
1) After the passing away of the previous Buddha (Kassapa) a monk went around for donations to build a stupa. He came to a house, where a goldsmith was quarreling with his wife. The man scolded him and sent him away. Later he realized the wrong he committed and donated gold flowers to the stupa.
In the present life he was a son of a rich woman who had an illicit affair. When he was born, his mother put him away. A young woman adopted him and named him Jatila. When he grew up, he married a daughter of a merchant and later discovered a large amount of gold in his house (as a result of donating the golden flowers). He had children and later he became a monk. He soon attained the Arahantship.
Later other monks asked him if he was still attached to his gold, to which he replied that he was not. The Buddha then spoke this verse, confirming Jatila's Arahantship.
2) In Rajagaha there lived a rich man named Jotika. Once he presented the prince Ajatasattu with a great ruby. Ajatasattu, seeing the beauty of his palace and his wealth, vowed to take Jotika's wealth away when he became a king.
Later Ajatasattu killed his father and became a king. He tried to break into Jotika's palace and loot it, but he was not successful. He went to ask the Buddha how that was possible, only to find Jotika sitting in the monastery and listening to the Buddha's discourse. Jotika explained that his property couldn't be taken from him against his wish.
Later Jotika became a monk and attained the Arahantship. Other monks asked him if he still missed his mansion and he replied that he did not. The Buddha then spoke this verse, confirming Jotika's Arahantship.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yo
idha
tanhaj
pahatvana
anagaro
paribbaje
tanhabhavaparikkhinaj
tanha
bhava
parikkhinaj
tam
ahaj
brumi
brahmanaj