Part 23

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Part 23 - Exercise 15 Answers

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Exercise 15 - Answers

Passage for reading

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As a passage ...

te ubho sāṇabhāraṃ ādāya yen' aññataraṃ gāmapadaṃ ten' upasaṃkamiṃsu. tatth' addasaṃsu pahūtaṃ sāṇasuttaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ. disvā sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi: yassa kho samma atthāya iccheyyāma sāṇaṃ, idaṃ pahūtaṃ sāṇasuttaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ. tena hi samma tvañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍehi, ahañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍessāmi. ubho sāṇasuttabharaṃ ādāya gamissāmā ti. ayaṃ kho me samma sāṇabhāro durābhato ca susannaddho ca. alam1 me; tvaṃ pajānāhī ti. atha kho so sahāyako sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍetvā sāṇasuttabhāraṃ ādiyi.

They both, having taken a load of hemp, approached a certain site of a village. There they saw much abandoned hemp-thread. Having seen (it) the friend addressed the friend: "For which purpose, my dear, we would desire hemp, (for that purpose) here is much abandoned hemp-thread. Now, my dear, you throw away the load of hemp, and I will throw away the load of hemp. We both, having taken a load of hemp-thread, will go." "This load of hemp, my dear, has been carried with difficulty and has been well-tied-up by me. It is enough for me, you understand!" Then that friend, having thrown away the load of hemp, took a load of hemp-thread.

... or as separate parts ...

te ubho sāṇabhāraṃ ādāya yen' aññataraṃ gāmapadaṃ ten' upasaṃkamiṃsu.

They both, having taken a load of hemp, approached a certain site of a village.

Ubho, 'both', is a plural numeral functioning as an adjective to te, 'they'.

tatth' addasaṃsu pahūtaṃ sāṇasuttaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ.

There they saw much abandoned hemp-thread.

Sāṇasuttaṃ = sāṇa ('hemp') + suttaṃ ('thread'), another tappurisa compound, probably with ablative internal structure, i.e. 'thread from hemp'.

disvā sahāyako sahāyakaṃ āmantesi:

Having seen (it) the friend addressed the friend:

yassa kho samma atthāya iccheyyāma sāṇaṃ, idaṃ pahūtaṃ sāṇasuttaṃ chaḍḍitaṃ.

"For which purpose, my dear, we would desire hemp, (for that purpose) here is much abandoned hemp-thread.

(For which purpose,) Or 'for which sake', yassa atthāya, dative of purpose. See Warder p.68.

(here) Idaṃ can be read as an indeclinable, as I do (cf. Warder footnote p.75), or as a pronoun, 'this'.

tena hi samma tvañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍehi, ahañ ca sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍessāmi.

Now, my dear, you throw away the load of hemp, and I will throw away the load of hemp.

The first (load of hemp) mentioned is 'your' load of hemp, the second is 'my' load of hemp.

ubho sāṇasuttabharaṃ ādāya gamissāmā ti.

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

(hemp-thread) Sāṇasuttaṃbhāraṃ, a tappurisa compound within a tappurisa compound, i.e. 'thread from hemp' within 'a load of hemp-thread', thus 'a load of thread from hemp'.

(will go) Gacchissāma, again future of decision/determination, see Warder p.55.

ayaṃ kho me samma sāṇabhāro durābhato ca susannaddho ca.

"This load of hemp, my dear, has been carried with difficulty and has been well-tied-up by me.

(carried with difficulty) Durābhato = du(r) + ābhato, 'hard-carried'. The prefix du(r) has a negative connotation, see Warder p.98.

(well-tied-up) Susannaddho = su + sannaddho. The prefix su (the opposite of du(r)) has a positive connotation, again see Warder p.98.

(by me) Me is the agent of the passive sentence. Note that the one me here seems to relate to both past participles, i.e. 'has been carried with difficulty by me' and 'has been well-tied-up by me'.

alam1 me; tvaṃ pajānāhī ti.

It is enough for me, you understand!"

(for me) Alaṃ me. Me is dative because alaṃ takes the dative, see Warder p.68.

atha kho so sahāyako sāṇabhāraṃ chaḍḍetvā sāṇasuttabhāraṃ ādiyi.

Then that friend, having thrown away the load of hemp, took a load of hemp-thread.

i.e., the first friend.


1 A final ṃ may be assimilated to a following labial when the words are closely connected grammatically. It may become m also when a vowel follows, under the same conditions (in verse under stress of metre too, since ṃ makes the preceding syllable long whilst m does not).

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tena hi brāhmaṇa suṇāhi

Now, brahmin, listen!

(Now) Tena hi signifies an admonition, see Warder p.94.

na tvaṃ imaṃ dhammavinayaṃ ājānāsi. ahaṃ imaṃ dhammavinayaṃ ājānāmi

You don‘t understand this doctrine and discipline! I understand this doctrine and discipline!

Dhammavinayaṃ, dvanda compound. Note that although the compound has two members, it is here used as a collective noun neuter and thus is inflected in the singular, see Warder p.97. The pronoun imaṃ is therefore also singular.

idha tathāgato jāto

The Tathāgata was born here.

ko imaṃ dhammaṃ khippam eva ājānissati

Who might quickly understand this doctrine?

(quickly) Khippaṃ is often followed by eva which slightly alters the meaning to something like ‘really quickly‘.

ekacco dānaṃ deti samaṇassa vā brāhmaṇassa vā annaṃ pānaṃ vatthaṃ yānaṃ mālāgandhavilepanaṃ seyyāvasathapadīpeyyaṃ

Someone gives a gift to an ascetic or brahmin, (such as) food, drink, a garment, a carriage, a garland, perfume, and cosmetics, a bed, room, and lamp.

(brahmin) Dative.

(a garland, perfume, and cosmetics) Mālāgandhavilepanaṃ = mālā + gandha + vilepanaṃ, a three element dvanda compound, collective singular neuter, see Warder p.97.

(a bed, room, and lamp) Seyyāvasathapadīpeyyaṃ = seyya + āvasatha + padīpeyya, another three element dvanda compound.


ko nu kho papa bho jānāti.1 madanīyā kāmā

But, Sir, who knows? The sense pleasures are intoxicating.

(who knows?) The contextual meaning is 'who knows what will happen?'

(sense pleasures) Kāma is not just any pleasure in Buddhist usage, but specifically the pleasure of the senses.

jānāhi yadi vā taṃ bhavantaṃ Gotamaṃ tathā santaṃ2 yeva saddo abbhuggato, yadi vā no tathā

Find out: whether the report (saddo) is disseminated with reference to that Honourable Gotama really (yeva) being thus, or whether (the report is disseminated with reference to that Honourable Gotama being) not thus.

(Find out:) Jānāhi is usually translated 'know', but here means 'get to know' and thus 'find out', see PED. Judging from the context of the Pali in the sutta (i.e., samaṇaṃ Gotamaṃ jānāhi), jānāhi here seems to form a clause of its own, therefore the colon.

(disseminated) Abbhuggato is a past participle predicated of saddo, functioning like an adjective, see Warder p.61.

Taṃ bhavantaṃ Gotamaṃ I take to be an accusative of 'specification of state' (see Warder pp.17-18) and thus I translate 'with reference to ...'. (This is also the Com. interpretation.)

Santaṃ, present participle of atthi agreeing with Gotamaṃ, see Warder p.47.

i.e., find out whether the report disseminated about the Honourable Gotama is true or not. This sentence is really far too complex to be introduced at this stage of a Pali course!

tassa evaṃ jānato evaṃ passato kāmāsavā pi cittaṃ vimuccati bhavāsavā pi cittaṃ vimuccati avijjāsavā pi cittaṃ vimuccati

When he is knowing thus (and) seeing thus, the mind is freed from the outflowing of sensual pleasure, the mind is freed from the outflowing of existence, and (pi) the mind is freed from the outflowing of ignorance.

(seeing thus) Genitive absolute. Both jānato and passato are present participles in the genitive case. Note that the agent of the genitive absolute clause, tassa, here agrees with two genitive participles.

(is freed) Vimuccati, passive.

(sensual pleasure) Kāmāsavā = kāma ('sensual pleasure') + āsava ('outflowing') + ā-ending (ablative), a genitive tappurisa compound, the compound as a whole being ablative. Bhavāsavā and avijjāsavā are structured in the same way.

yaṃ kiñ ci samudayadhammaṃ, sabban taṃ nirodhadhammaṃ

Whatever is subject to origination, all that is subject to cessation.

(Whatever) Yaṃ kiñ ci, see Warder p.85.

(subject to origination) Samudayadhammaṃ = samudaya ('origination') + dhamma. Dhamma at the end of a compound has the sense of 'nature of', 'subject to', see Connected Discourses of the Buddha; Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi‘s translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya p.44.

Again note the relative clause/demonstrative clause construction, each clause being 'equational'.

n' atthi jātassa amaraṇaṃ

There is no non-death for one who has been born.

Jatassa, dative past participle. Note the 'personalised' form of the participle, i.e. 'one who has been born' rather than just 'has been born'. This is a common feature of Pali past participles (and present participles), see New Course in Reading Pali, by James W. Gair & W.S. Karunatillake V 5.2.


1 This is an idiom and may be translated "who knows?", "you never know", "you never can tell".

2 Present participle of as, cf. Lesson 8.

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What I know, you know what you know, I know

Yaṃ ahaṃ jānāmi, taṃ tvaṃ jānāsi; yaṃ tvaṃ jānāsi, taṃ ahaṃ jānāmi.

I learn the saying of the fortunate one

Ahaṃ Bhagavato bhāsitaṃ (or vacanaṃ) ājānāmi.

He will grasp what I explain (fut.) quickly

Yaṃ ahaṃ vyākarissāmi, taṃ khippam eva ājānissati.

After some time he hears the excellent doctrine

So aparena samayena ariyaṃ dhammaṃ sunāti.

Aparena samayena, 'after some time', see Warder p.45.

Warder renders ariyaṃ dhammaṃ as 'excellent doctrine'. Other words for excellent could be abhikkantaṃ or paṇītaṃ.

The fortunate one, taking robe-and-bowl, entered Rājagaha1 for alms

Bhagavā pattacīvaraṃ ādāya Rājagahaṃ piṇḍāya pāvisi.

(pattacīvaraṃ) Dvanda compound.


Stop! Ananda, don't grieve

Alaṃ Ānanda, mā paridevesi.

Alaṃ, 'stop', see Warder p.68. Mā paridevesi, 'don't grieve', see Warder p.31. The PTS text actually has paridevi which may be an alternative form of the aorist. Again note the combination of aorist with mā.

He understands that (use direct speech) these beings (are) endowed with bad-conduct-of-the-body

So pajānāti: 'ime sattā kāyaduccaritena samannāgatā'.

Samannāgata + instrumental, see Warder p.44. Kāyaduccaritena = kāya + duccarita, a tappurisa compound (duccarita = du (r) ('bad') + carita ('conduct')).

Not-memorizing that speech, I left

Taṃ vācam (or bhāsitam or vacanam) anuggaṇhanto pakkāmiṃ.

Anuggaṇhanto, 'not-memorising', negative present participle of uggaṇhāti. 'Not grasping' or 'not understanding' might be a better translation considering the context in the sutta. Also note how an ṃ (here of vacaṃ, but also five lines up of khippaṃ) can change to m when a vowel, here a, follows in close junction, see Warder p.217.

Why (is) this unexplained by the philosopher Gotama?

Kasmā idaṃ samanena Gotamena avyākataṃ?

(Kasmā) See Warder p.89.

Avyākataṃ is the negative past participle of vyākaroti.

You (plur.) have gone forth from house to homelessness

Tumhe agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajitā.

Agārasmā, ablative. Agārasmā pabbajitā, see Warder p.89. Pabbajitā, plural nominative agreeing with tumhe, 'you'.


1 Capital of Magadha.

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