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

List of Abbreviations

# khanti paramaj tapo titikkha

# nibbanaj paramaj vadanti buddha

# na hi pabbajito parupaghati

# samano hoti paraj vihethayanto

# (DhP 184)

Sentence Translation:

Patience and forgiveness is the highest ascetic practice.
The Awakened Ones say the Nirvana to be the highest.
A monk does not hurt others.
One, who harms others, is not a monk.

Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

khanti paramaj tapo titikkha
| | | |
N.f. Adj.n. N.n. N.f.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
| |_______| |
|_______________|___________|
|_______|

List of Abbreviations

nibbanaj paramaj vadanti buddha
| | | |
N.n. Adj.n. V.act.in. N.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl.
|____________| | |
|______________| |
|_______________|

List of Abbreviations

na hi pabbajito para+upaghati
| | | | |
neg. part. Adj.m. Adj. Adj.m.
|_____| Nom.Sg. | Nom.Sg.
|________| |______|
|_____________|

List of Abbreviations

samano hoti paraj vihethayanto
| | | |
N.m. V.act.in. Adj.m. Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|___________| |_________|
|_________________|

Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

khanti: khanti-, N.f.: patience, forbearance, forgiveness. Nom.Sg. = khanti.

paramaj: parama-, Adj.: most, highest, absolute. Nom.Sg.n. = paramaj.

tapo: tapo-, N.n.: ascetic practice, religious practice. Nom.Sg. = tapo.

titikkha: titikkha-, N.f.: endurance, forgiveness. Nom.Sg. = titikkha.

nibbanaj: nibbana-, N.n.: Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism. Acc.Sg. = nibbanaj.

paramaj: see above. Acc.Sg. = paramaj.

List of Abbreviations

vadanti, V.: say. The verb root is vad- (to say). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vadanti.

buddha: buddha-, Adj.: awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb root budh- (to awaken). As a N.m.: Awakened One, Enlightened One, a being who has attained the Nirvana. Nom.Pl. = buddha.

na, neg.: not.

hi, part.: indeed.

pabbajito: pabbajita-, Adj.: One who has "gone forth" from home and became a monk. It is a p.p. of the verb pabbajati (to go forth). Nom.Sg. = pabbajito.

List of Abbreviations

parupaghati: parupaghatin-, Adj.: killing others, hurting others. It is a compound of:
para-, Adj.: different, other.
upaghatin-, Adj.: hurting, killing. It is derived from the verb root han- (to strike, to beat) with the prefix upa- (on, onto).
Euphonic combination: para- + upaghatin- = parupaghatin-.
Nom.Sg.m. = parupaghati.

samano: samana-, N.m.: a recluse, a wandering ascetic, a monk (not only a Buddhist monk).
Nom.Sg. = samano.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhu- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

paraj: para-, Adj.: different, other. Acc.Sg.m. = paraj.

vihethayanto: vihethayant-, Adj.: hurting, oppressing, harming. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root hel- (to be hostile) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). Nom.Sg.m. = vihethayanto.

List of Abbreviations

This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
1) khanti paramaj tapo titikkha (patience and forgiveness is the highest ascetic practice). There are two subjects in this sentence, khanti (patience, nominative singular) and titikkha (forgiveness, nominative singular). The object is the noun tapo (ascetic practice, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective paramaj (highest, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
2) nibbanaj paramaj vadanti buddha (the Awakened Ones say the Nirvana to be the highest). The subject is the noun buddha (Awakened Ones, nominative plural). The verb is vadanti (say, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun nibbanaj (Nirvana, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective paramaj (highest, accusative singular).
3) na hi pabbajito parupaghati (a monk does not hurt others). The object is the noun pabbajito (monk, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective parupaghati (hurting others, nominative singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
4) samano hoti paraj vihethayanto (one, who harms others, is not a monk). The object is the active present participle vihethayanto (harming, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective paraj (other, accusative singular). The verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not) from the previous sentence. The object is the noun samano (monk, nominative singular).

Commentary:

Venerable Ananda once asked the Buddha if the basic instructions for the behavior of the monks were the same in case of the past Buddhas, or if each Awakened One sets his own rules.
The Buddha replied with this verse and with the preceding one (DhP 183) and with the following one (DhP 185), saying that they were all the same. He also added that the previous Buddhas uttered these three verses also.

Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

khanti
paramaj
tapo
titikkha
nibbanaj
vadanti
buddha
na
hi
pabbajito
parupaghati
para
upaghati
samano
hoti
paraj
vihethayanto