Part 21

Part 21 - Exercise 14 Answers

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Exercise 14 - Answers

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bhūtapubbaṃ añataro janapado vuṭṭhāsi. atha kho sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi: āyāma samma. yena so janapado ten' upasaṃkamissāma. app eva nām' ettha kiñ ci dhanaṃ adhigaccheyyāmā ti. evaṃ sammā ti kho sahāyako sahāyakassa paccassosi. te yena so janapado yen' aññataraṃ gāmapadaṃ ten' upasaṃkamiṃsu. tatth' addasaṃsu pahūtaṃ sāṇaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ. disvā sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi: idaṃ kho samma pahūtaṃ sāṇaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ. tena hi samma tvañ1 ca sāṇabhāraṃ bandha, ahañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ bandhissāmi. ubho sāṇabhāraṃ ādāya gamissāmā ti. evaṃ sammā ti kho sahāyako sahāyakassa paṭissutvā sāṇabhāraṃ bandhi.

Once upon a time a certain country emigrated. Then, a friend addressed a friend: "Let us go, my dear. We will approach that country. Perhaps in this case (ettha) we may acquire some wealth." Saying "yes, my dear", the friend consented to the friend. They approached that country (and then) a certain site of a village. There they saw much abandoned hemp. Having seen (it), the friend addressed the friend: "This, my dear, is much abandoned hemp. Now, my dear, you bind a load of hemp and I will bind a load of hemp. We both having taken a load of hemp, will go." Saying "yes, my dear", the friend having consented to the friend, bound a load of hemp.

... or as separate parts ...

bhūtapubbaṃ añataro janapado vuṭṭhāsi.

Once upon a time a certain country emigrated.

atha kho sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi:

Then, a friend addressed a friend:

āyāma samma.

"Let us go, my dear.

(Let us go) Imperative or present of immediate future, see Warder p.12.

yena so janapado ten' upasaṃkamissāma.

We will approach that country.

Lit. 'towards that country that way we will approach', i.e., let us approach that country. Again this is the standard Pali idiom for going somewhere or to someone. Note the indeclinable use of tena ('towards') and yena ('that way'). The future here expresses decision/determination, see Warder p.55.

app eva nām' ettha kiñ ci dhanaṃ adhigaccheyyāmā ti.

Perhaps in this case (ettha) we may acquire some wealth."

(Perhaps) App eva nāma, see The Pali Text Society‘s Dictionary of Pali by Margaret Cone.

Kiñ is here the junction form of kiṃ (i.e., the final changes to ñ due to immediately following c, see Warder p.217. kiñ/kiṃ is the accusative singular neuter to agree with dhanaṃ.

evaṃ sammā ti

Saying "yes, my dear",

kho sahāyako sahāyakassa paccassosi.

the friend consented to the friend.

te yena so janapado yen' aññataraṃ gāmapadaṃ ten' upasaṃkamiṃsu.

They approached that country (and then) a certain site of a village.

(They approached that country) The Pali literally says: 'They, towards (yena) that country, towards (yena) a certain village-site, that way (tena) approached'. Note the sequence of approaching one location after another and its being expressed by a sequence of yenas.

Gāmapadaṃ = gāma ('village') + padaṃ ('site'), genitive tappurisa compound, see Warder pp.77-78.

tatth' addasaṃsu pahūtaṃ sāṇaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ.

There they saw much abandoned hemp.

(abandoned) chaḍḍitaṃ, past participle agreeing with sānaṃ, 'hemp'.

disvā sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi:

Having seen (it), the friend addressed the friend:

(friend) Sahāyako, 'friend', is the agent of both verbs, disvā and āmantesi.

idaṃ kho samma pahūtaṃ sāṇaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ.

"This, my dear, is much abandoned hemp.

tena hi samma tvañ1 ca sāṇabhāraṃ bandha, ahañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ bandhissāmi.

Now, my dear, you bind a load of hemp and I will bind a load of hemp.

(bind) Bandha, imperative second person singular, see Warder pp.34-35.

(load of hemp) Sāṇabhāraṃ = sāṇa ('hemp') + bhāraṃ ('load'), genitive tappurisa compound.

ubho sāṇabhāraṃ ādāya gamissāmā ti.

We both having taken a load of hemp, will go."

(We both) Ubho, 'both', is a numeral adjective, here qualifying 'we' (implied by the verb).

evaṃ sammā ti kho sahāyako sahāyakassa paṭissutvā sāṇabhāraṃ bandhi.

Saying "yes, my dear", the friend having consented to the friend, bound a load of hemp.

(bound) Bandhi, aorist.


1 palatalized to ñ before c.

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puccheyyām' ahaṃ bhante kañ cid eva desaṃ

May I ask, Venerable Sir, (about) some point?

(May I ask) Puccheyyām' ahaṃ = puccheyyāmi ahaṃ, optative to indicate a request, see Warder p.87.

(some) Kañ cid = kaṃ + ci, kañ and cid being junction forms. Kañ/kaṃ is masculine accusative singular to agree with desaṃ.

See this table (from Lesson 12 - pg.73):
singularplural
masculineneuterfemininemasculineneuterfeminine
nominative kokiṃkekāni
accusative kaṃkiṃkaṃ
instrumental kenakāyakehikāhi
dative kassa or kissakassākesaṃkāsaṃ
genitive

devā tamhā kāyā cavanti

The deities fall from that group.

Tamhā kāyā, ablative. Kāyo has the sense of 'collection', thus here it refers to a group of deities or a world of deities.

upādānapaccayā bhavo

Existence is from the condition of attachment.

(Existence is) An equational sentence where the verb 'to be' is implied. The equation here is between the agent of 'to be' and bhavo, i.e. 'there is existence ...'. (Equational sentences are always between words in the same case, almost always the nominative.)

(attachment) Upadānapaccayā is a genitive tappurisa compound in the ablative (i.e. the case of the compound as a whole is ablative (it ends in ā) but the case relation between the two words upadāna and paccaya is genitive.) The ablative is here the ablative of cause and it could be translated as 'due to the condition of attachment'.

yan nūma mayaṃ kusalaṃ kareyyāma

What now if we were to do that which is good?

Kusalaṃ is here a noun (not an adjective) and thus 'that which is good', 'what is good', or 'the good', see Warder p.62.

na hi bhagavā evaṃ vadeyya

The Blessed One would never say that!

(never) Hi is here an intensifier, thus 'never' for na hi.

(that) Evaṃ, lit. 'thus'. Evaṃ is often, as in this case, used to refer to what has just been said or what is about to be said, therefore 'that'.

na dān' ime imamhā ābādhā vuṭṭhahissanti

They will not now arise from that illness.

(They) Ime is usually a demonstrative pronoun but occasionally (as here) it is personal.

Imamhā ābādhā, ablative. Ābādhā vuññhāti is the usual idiom for recovering from an illness.

te kālena kālaṃ upasaṃkamitvā paripuccheyyāsi ( = 'should': exhortation)

Having approached them from time to time, you should ask.

(Having approached them) Te, accusative. Note that the agent of paripuccheyyāsi must be 'you' (singular), and that the agent of upasaṅkamitvā must therefore also be the second person singular.

(time to time) For kālena kālaṃ, see Warder p.46.

(you should ask) Note that Maurice Walshe's translation here, in 'Thus I Have Heard', is in error.


tassa evam assa: ahaṃ kho pubbe dāso ahosiṃ. so1 'mhi etarahi tamhā dāsavyā mutto

He might think this: 'Formerly I was a slave. Now I am freed from that slavery!'

(He might think this:) Again the usual Pali idiom for thinking (see Warder p.56) but note that the verb 'to be' is here in the optative tense, thus 'he might ...'.

yattha pan' āvuso sabbaso vedayitaṃ n' atthi, api nu kho tattha 'asmī' ti siyā

But, friend, where experience completely is not (n'atthi), would perhaps the perception 'I am' be there?

(perception) The quotation marker ti here marks a thought or a perception, see Warder p.36

(be) Siyā, 'would ... be'.

The context is the Buddha showing that a 'self' cannot be without feeling/experience. The ti in asmīti denotes an idea, perception, or thought, see Warder p.36

khīṇā me āsavā

The outflowings (āsavā) have been exhausted by me.

Me could here be instrumental, dative, or genitive!

na maṃ ko ci āsanena pi nimantesi

Nobody even (pi) offered me a seat.

(Nobody) Na ko ci, see Warder pp.85-86.

Āsanena nimanteti, lit. 'invited (me) with a seat'. For this instrumental construction see Warder p.46.

āyantu bhonto

Let the honourables come!

Imperative third person plural. This is a case of a third person verb being used in addressing someone, this being a polite form of address. In these cases it is not clear whether bhonto should be understood as nominative or vocative, the form allows either interpretation. The vocative is normally used with second person verbs but polite address may be an exception to this rule. Alternatively, the nominative may be used here as an indirect but polite form of address, the vocative maybe being considered too familiar.

idha samaṇo vā brāhmaṇo vā kusalaṃ dhammaṃ adhigaccheyya. kusalaṃ dhammaṃ adhigantvā na parassa āroceyya. kiṃ hi paro parassa karissati.2 seyyathā pi nāma purāṇaṇ bandhanaṃ chinditvā aññaṃ navaṃ bandhanaṃ kareyya.

Here a recluse or brahmin might obtain something good. Having obtained something good, he should not inform another. For (hi) what can one do for another? Just as if, having cut an old bond, one should make another new bond.

(something good) Kusalaṃ dhammaṃ, lit. 'a good thing' or 'a good quality'.

(inform another) Parassa āroceyya, āroceti takes the dative, see Warder p.68.

(what can one) Paro. Because of the repetition of para here (paro parassa) one must translate 'one ... another', see Pali Text Society‘s (PTS) Pali English Dictionary.

(do) Karissati, lit. 'will (one) do'. See also The Pali Text Society‘s Dictionary of Pali by Margaret Cone under karoti.

(for another) Parassa, dative.

(For what can one do for another?) This is a rhetorical question meaning it is useless to help anybody. This was a wrong view according to the Buddha.

(Just as if) Seyyathā pi nāma.


1 so used with 1st person verb as emphatic pronoun (1st person), cf. Lesson 5.

2 kiṃ … karissati = "what will/can he/it do?" means much the same as "what's the use of?"

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I got up from my seat and left

(Ahaṃ) uṭṭhāy'āsanā pakkāmiṃ.

Uṭṭhāy'āsanā = uṭṭhāya + āsanā, lit. 'having got up from the seat'. 'My' is implied in the Pali, see Warder p.89.

If the philosopher Gotama should come to this assembly we will ask (optative) him this question

Sace samaṇo Gotamo imaṃ parisaṃ āgaccheyya, imaṃ taṃ (him) pañhaṃ puccheyyāma.

Imaṃ ... paṭhaṃ, 'this question'.

What should we do?

Kiṃ kareyyāma.

I should do meritorious actions

Ahaṃ puññāni kareyyaṃ.

Sensation is caused by ('from the condition of') contact

Phassapaccayā vedanā.


You should explain it as it pleases you (te; both verbs optative)

Yathā te khameyya, (tathā) taṃ (it) vyākareyyāsi.

Khameyya, 'it might please', third person, takes the dative te, 'you'.

Tathā, 'thus', is the correlative of yathā, 'as'. Yathā introduces the relative clause and tathā the demonstrative clause. See Warder pp.70-72 and 292-293.

We would invite him to sit down

Mayaṃ naṃ āsanena nimanteyyāma.

Āsanena nimanteti, again see Warder p.46. Naṃ is an alternative to taṃ, see Warder p.116.

There will be an eclipse of the moon

Candaggāho bhavissati.

Canda-ggāho is a tappurisa compound, see Warder p.92.

There is nothing here

N'atthi ettha kiñci.

Na ... kiñ ci, 'nothing', see Warder p.86.

The priests would banish the priest from the city

Brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇaṃ nagarā pabbājeyyuṃ.

Pabbājeti, 'he causes to go forth', thus 'he banishes'.