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

caranti bālā dummedhā amitteneva attanā

karontā pāpakaṃ kammaṃ yaṃ hoti kaṭukapphalaṃ

(DhP 66)



Sentence Translation:

The stupid fools behave as if they themselves were their enemies,
doing bad deeds, which have bitter fruit.



Sentence Structure:

List of Abbreviations

caranti       bālā  dummedhā amittena eva  attanā
|                   |             |             |          |        |

V.act.in.     N.m.    Adj.m.    Adj.m.  part.   N.m.

3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl.   Ins.Sg.    |     Ins.Sg.

|                   |_______|             |______|        |

|                          |                        |________|

|                          |__________________|________________________

|____________________|                       |

                |________________________|

List of Abbreviations

karontā pāpakaṃ kammaṃ yaṃ           hoti     kaṭuka+pphalaṃ
|                  |            |            |                |            |           |

Adj.m.    Adj.n.     N.n.   Rel.Pron.n.  V.act.in.  Adj.     N.n.

Nom.Pl. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.   Nom.Sg.   3.Sg.pres.   |      Nom.Sg.

|                  |_______|           |                |            |______|

|                         |                 |                |__________|

|                         |                 |______________|

|                         |________________|

|______________________|

___________|



Vocabulary and Grammar:

List of Abbreviations

caranti, V.: behave, act. The verb root is car- (to behave, to act; the primary meaning is "to walk"). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = caranti.

bālā: bāla-, Adj.: childish, young. As an N.m.: "like a child", fool, ignorant person. Nom.Pl. = bālā.

dummedhā: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. Derived from the word medhā-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du + medha = dummedha). Nom.Pl.m. = dummedhā.

amittena: amitta-, N.m.: enemy. It is the word mitta-, N.m.: friend, negated by the negative prefix a-. Ins.Sg. = amittena.
Euphonic combination: amittena + eva = amitteneva.

eva, part.: just, only.

List of Abbreviations

attanā: attan-, N.m.: self. Ins.Sg. = attanā.

karontā: karont-, Adj.: doing. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root kar- (to do). Nom.Pl.m. = karontā.

pāpakaṃ: pāpaka-, Adj.: evil, bad. It is the word pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Acc.Sg.n. = pāpakaṃ.

kammaṃ: kamma-, N.n.: deed, action. Derived from the verb kar- (to do).
Acc.Sg. = kammaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

yaṃ: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Nom.Sg.n.: yaṃ.

hoti, V.: is. The verb bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = hoti.

kaṭukapphalaṃ: kaṭukapphala-, Adj.: having bitter fruit. It is a compound of:
    kaṭuka-, Adj.: bitter, acid.

    phala-, N.n.: fruit.

Euphonic combination: kaṭuka- + phala- = kaṭukapphala-.

Nom.Sg.n. = kaṭukapphalaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    The subject of this sentence is the noun bālā (fools, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the adjective dummedhā (stupid, nominative plural) and the active present participle karontā (doing, nominative plural). This last word has itself an attribute, the noun kammaṃ (deed, accusative singular) and that in turn has the adjective pāpakaṃ (bad, accusative singular) as an attribute. To this noun kammaṃ there is a dependent clause, yaṃ hoti kaṭukapphalaṃ (which has bitter fruit). Here, the subject is the relative pronoun yaṃ (that which, nominative singular). The object is the compound kaṭukapphalaṃ (having bitter fruit, nominative singular) and the verb is hoti (is, 3rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense).
    In the main sentence, the verb is caranti (behave, 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). This verb has an attribute, the noun attanā (with oneself, instrumental singular). This noun has the noun amittena (with enemy, instrumental singular), strengthened by the particle eva (just), as an attribute.



Commentary:

    There was a man named Suppabuddha. In one of his previous existences he killed a courtesan and she vowed a revenge on him. In yet another existence he spat on a holy man.
    As a result of these actions he was born as a leper. Once he listened to the Buddha's discourse. He very quickly realized the Dharma and followed the Buddha to the monastery.

    Sakka, the king of gods, wanted to test him and so he appeared in front of him and told him: "You are only a poor man. If you renounce the Buddha, I will give you all the wealth of the world." But Suppabuddha replied, that he was actually an extremely rich man - having the faith in the Buddha and his teaching.

    Then Sakka related the story to the Buddha, who said that a hundred Sakkas could not turn Suppabuddha of the right path. Suppabuddha then went to see the Buddha and on the way back from the monastery an evil spirit - the woman whom he killed in a previous existence - killed him.

    The monks asked the Buddha where was Suppabuddha reborn and the Buddha told them, that he had been reborn in Tāvatimsa heaven. By doing bad deeds over the period of several lives he accumulated a lot of defilements. These caused him so much pain and suffering, but his realizing the Dharma has cleared them away.



Sentence pronunciation:

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

caranti
bālā

dummedhā

amittena

eva

attanā

karontā

pāpakaṃ

kammaṃ

yaṃ

hoti

kaṭukapphalaṃ

kaṭuka

phalaṃ