Gatha Sentence Translation Sentence Structure
Vocabulary&Grammar Commentary Pronunciation
                          List of Abbreviations

caraj ce nadhigaccheyya seyyaj sadisam attano

ekacariyaj dalhaj kayira n'atthi bale sahayata

(DhP 61)




Sentence Translation:

If a wanderer should not find a companion better or similar to oneself,
then he should resolutely wander alone. There is no companionship with a fool.




Sentence Structure:
List of Abbreviations

caraj     ce    na adhigaccheyya seyyaj sadisam attano
|               |      |           |                  |          |            |
Adj.m.   part. neg.    V.act.        Adj.m.  Adj.m.   N.m.
Nom.Sg.   |      |      3.Sg.opt.    Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg.
|               |      |______|                  |______|           |
|               |______|                               |_________|
|___________|                                              |
         |________________________________|
                                    |________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

eka+cariyaj  dalhaj     kayira  na      atthi        bale    sahayata
|             |            |             |        |           |             |            |
Num.   N.f.     Adj.f.     V.act.  neg.  V.act.in.    N.m.      N.f.
|        Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.  |     3.Sg.pres. Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_______|            |_______|        |_______|            |_______|
      |______________|                      |______________|
__________|




Vocabulary and Grammar:
List of Abbreviations

caraj: carant-, Adj.: wanderer, wandering monk. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root car- (to move, to wander about). Nom.Sg. = caraj.

ce, part.: if.

na, neg.: not.

adhigaccheyya, V.: to find, to acquire. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefix adhi- (towards). 3.Sg.act.opt. = adhigaccheyya.
Euphonic combination: na + adhigaccheyya = nadhigaccheyya.

seyyaj: seyya-, Adj.: better. Acc.Sg.m. = seyyaj.

List of Abbreviations

sadisam: sadisa-, Adj.: similar, like, equal. Acc.Sg.m. = sadisam.

attano: attan-, N.m.: self, oneself. Here it is used rather as a reflexive pronoun. Gen.Sg. = attano.

ekacariyaj: ekacariya-, N.f.: solitude, wandering alone. It is a compound of:
    eka-, Num.: one.
    cariya-, N.f.: wandering. It is derived from the verb car- (to move, to wander about).
Acc.Sg. = ekacariyaj.

dalhaj: dalha-, Adj.: strong, resolute, firm. Acc.Sg.f. = dalhaj.

List of Abbreviations

kayira, V.: should do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.act.opt. = kayira.

na: see above.

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

bale: bala-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child:, fool, ignorant person. Loc.Sg. = bale.

sahayata: sahayata-, N.f.: companionship. It is an abstract from the noun sahaya-, N.m.: companion, friend. Nom.Sg. = sahayata.

List of Abbreviations

    There are two sentences in this verse:
    1) caraj ce nadhigaccheyya seyyaj sadisam attano ekacariyaj dalhaj kayira (if a wanderer should not find a companion better or similar to oneself, then he should resolutely wander alone). This sentence can be further divided into two sentences.
    a) First is caraj ce nadhigaccheyya seyyaj sadisam attano (if a wanderer should not find a companion better or similar to oneself). The subject of this sentence is the active present participle caraj (wanderer, nominative singular). The verb is adhigaccheyya (should find, 3rd person, singular, active, optative) negated by the negative particle na (not). There are two objects, seyyaj (better, accusative singular) and sadisam (similar, accusative singular) which share the same attribute, the noun/reflexive pronoun attano (one self's, genitive singular). The particle ce (if) connects the sentence to the following one.
    b) The second sentence is ekacariyaj dalhaj kayira (he should resolutely wander alone). Here, the subject is omitted; the active present participle caraj from the first sentence is implied. The verb is kayira (should do, 3rd person, singular, active, optative) with the adjective dalhaj (strong, accusative singular) as an attribute. The object of this sentence is the noun ekacariyaj (wandering alone, accusative singular).
    2) n'atthi bale sahayata (there is no companionship with a fool). The subject of this sentence is the noun sahayata (companionship, nominative singular). The noun is atthi (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense) negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the word bale (with the fool, in the fool, locative singular).




Commentary:

    Venerable Mahakassapa was once staying near Rajagaha. At that time he had two novices with him. One of them was very good, diligent, respectful and obedient whereas the other one was lazy, disrespectful and naughty.
    When Kassapa admonished the bad novice, he became angry. One day he went to the village to get some food and lied that Kassapa was sick. So the people gave him very good food for Venerable Kassapa. But the novice ate all himself and came back to Kassapa empty-handed. He was admonished once again, but instead of repenting he became even angrier.
    The next day when Kassapa left for his alms-round, the young novice broke all things and set fire to the monastery.
    When the Buddha heard about this he spoke this verse, remarking that it would be better for Kassapa to live alone than to associate himself with such a fool.




Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

caraj
ce
na
adhigaccheyya
seyyaj
sadisam
attano
ekacariyaj
eka
cariyaj
dalhaj
kayira
n'atthi
atthi
bale
sahayata