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

List of Abbreviations

# manujassa pamattacarino

# tanha vaddhati maluva viya

# so plavati hurahuraj

# phalam icchaj va vanasmi vanaro

# (DhP 334)

Sentence Translation:

The thirst of the person of careless actions
grows just like a creeper.
He flows from existence to existence,
just like a monkey in the forest desiring fruits.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

manujassa pamatta+carino
| | |
N.m. Adj. Adj.m.
Gen.Sg. | Gen.Sg.
| |_______|
|_______________|
|_________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

tanha vaddhati maluva viya
| | | |
N.f. V.act.in. N.f. part.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg. |
__| | |_____|
|____________|___________|
|______|

List of Abbreviations

so plavati hurahuraj
| | |
Pron.m. V.act.in. Adv.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. |
| |_______|
|_______________|
|___________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

phalam icchaj va vanasmi vanaro
| | | | |
N.n. Adj.m. part. N.n. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. | Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| |______|______| |
|_____________| | |
|__________|______________|
|_______|
____________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

manujassa: manuja-, N.m.: man, person, human being. Gen.Sg. = manujassa.

pamattacarino: pamattacarin-, Adj.: of negligent actions, acting carelessly. It is a compound of:
pamatta-, Adj.: negligent. It is a p.p. of the verb mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa- (thus pamajjati = to be careless, to neglect).
carin-, N.m.: living, acting. Derived by the suffix -in from the verb car- (to walk, to act).
Gen.Sg.m. = pamattacarino.

tanha: tanha-, N.f.: thirst, craving. Nom.Sg. = tanha.

vaddhati, V.: grows, increases. The verb root is vaddh-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = vaddhati.

maluva: maluva-, N.f.: creper. Nom.Sg. = maluva.

viya, part.: as, like.

so: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = so (he).

List of Abbreviations

plavati, V.: floats, swims. The verb root is plu-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = plavati.

hurahuraj, Adv.: from existence to existence, from here to there, from this world to the other world. Derived from the word huraj, Adv.: there, in the other world.

phalam: phala-, N.n.: fruit. Acc.Sg. = phalam.

icchaj: icchant-, Adj.: wanting, desiring. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root icch- (to want, to desire). Nom.Sg.m. = icchaj.

va, part.: as, like.

vanasmi: vana-, N.n.: forest. Loc.Sg. = vanasmi.

vanaro: vanara-, N.m.: monkey. Nom.Sg. = vanaro.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) manujassa pamattacarino tanha vaddhati maluva viya (the thirst of the person of careless actions grows just like a creeper).The subject is the noun tanha (thirst, nominative singular). It has an attribute the noun manujassa (of a person, genitive singular) with its attribute, the adjective compound pamattacarino (of careless actions, genitive singular). There is also a clause dependent on the subject, the noun maluva (creeper, nominative singular). It is connected to the subject by the particle viya (as, like). The verb is vaddhati (grows, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
2) so plavati hurahuraj phalam icchaj va vanasmi vanaro (he flows from existence to existence, just like a monkey in the forest desiring fruits). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
a) so plavati hurahuraj (he flows from existence to existence). The subject is the personal pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is plavati (flows, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adverb hurahuraj (from existence to existence).
b) phalam icchaj va vanasmi vanaro (just like a monkey in the forest desiring fruits). The subject is the noun vanaro (monkey, nominative singular). The verb is in the active present participle, icchaj (wanting, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun vanasmi (in the forest, locative singular). The object is the noun phalam (fruit, accusative singular). The clause is connected to the main sentence by the particle va (as, like).

Commentary:

A fisherman in Savatthi once caught a beautiful golden fish. But when the fish opened its mouth, horrible smell spread all around. The Buddha was asked why this was so.
The fish had been a monk named Kapila long time ago. Kapila was very learned and famous. He taught the Dharma to many people. As a result of this he became very conceited and looked down on other monks. Whenever somebody would try to censure him, Kapila would just grow angry. Soon everybody avoided him and that made Kapila even angrier and he developed hatred for the monks and for the Dharma.
As a result of his conceit and hatred, he had to suffer for a long time. Because he taught the Dharma to many, he had a beautiful golden body. But because he used his mouth to abuse the monks and the Dharma, his breath was stinky and foul. The Buddha then added this verse (and the three following ones, DhP 335, DhP 336 and DhP 337).

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

manujassa
pamattacarino
pamatta
carino
tanha
vaddhati
maluva
viya
so
plavati
hurahuraj
huraj
phalam
icchaj
va
vanasmi
vanaro