An Elementary Pali Course Lesson XIV

Exercise 14-A: Translate into English.

1. "Eva.m me suta.m"
thus / by me / heard
Thus I have heard.

2. Mayi gate* so aagato.
I / gone / he / come
He came when I was gone.

3. Ki.m tena kata.m?
what / by him / done
What is done by him?

4. So tassa va.n.na.m bha.namaano ma.m upasa.mkami.
he / his / praise / speaking / me / approached
Speaking his praise, he approached me.

5. Aha.m magge gacchanto tasmi.m rukkhe nisinna.m sakuna.m passi.m.
I / on way / going / on that / on tree / seated / bird / saw
Going on the way, I saw the bird perched on that tree.

6. Bhikkhuuhi lokassa dhammo desetabbo.
by monks / to world / Dhamma / should be preached
The Dhamma should be preached to the world by the monks.

7. Puñña.m kattabba.m, paapa.m na kaatabba.m.
good / should be done / evil / should not be done
Good should be done, evil should not be done.

8. Ajja etena maggena mayaa gantabba.m.**
today / by this / by road / by me / should go
I should go by this path today.

9. Sabbaa itthiyo dhamma.m sunantiyo etaaya saalaaya nisiidi.msu.
all / women / doctrine / hearing / in this / in hall / were seated
All the women listening to the doctrine were seated in this hall.

10. Pa.n.ditaa ya.m ya.m desa.m bhajanti tattha tatth'eva puujitaa honti.***
wise men / whichever / place / visit / here and there-just / venerated / are
Whichever place the wise men visit, they are venerated at that very place.

11. Buddhena bujjhitaani saccaani mayaa'pi bujjhitabbaani.
by Buddha / understood / truths / by me-too / should be understood
The truths understood by the Buddha should be understood by me too.

12. Para.m loka.m (tayi) gacchante* tayaa kata.m puñña.m vaa paapa.m vaa tayaa saddhi.m gacchati.
[to] the other / [to] world / (you) / going / by you / done / merit or / evil or / with you / goes
As you go to the other world, good or evil done by you goes with you.

13. .Thito vaa nisinno vaa gacchanto vaa sayanto (or sayaano) vaa aha.m sabbesu sattesu metta.m karomi.
stood or / seated or / going or / lying (down) or / I / in all / in beings / loving-kindness / do
Either standing, sitting, moving or lying down, I extend loving-kindness to all beings.

14. Vejjasaalaaya vasantaana.m gilaanaana.m pure osadha.m daatabba.m, pacchaa aparesa.m daatabba.m.
in doctor-hall / dwelling / to sick people / earlier / medicine / should be given / to others / afterwards
Medicine should be given to the patients staying in the hospital first, (it) should be given to the others later.

15. Ki.m nu kattabban'ti ajaanantaa te mama purato a.t.tha.msu.
what / - / to be done / not knowing / they / of me / in the presence / stood
Not knowing "what to be done", they stood in front of me.

16. "Pemato**** jaayati soko -- pemato jaayati bhaya.m;
from attachment / arises / grief / from attachment / arises / fear
From attachment, grief arises, so does fear;

Pemato vippamuttassa -- n'atthi soko kuto bhaya.m."
from attachment / released / is not / grief / whence / fear
Released from attachment, without grief, where comes fear.

17. "Ta.nhaaya jaayati soko -- ta.nhaaya jaayati bhaya.m;
from craving / arises / grief / from craving / arises / fear
From craving, grief arises, so does fear;

Ta.nhaaya vippamuttassa -- n'atthi soko kuto bhaya.m."
from craving / released / is not / grief / whence / fear
released from craving, without grief, where comes fear.

18. Ekasmi.m samaye aññataro devo rattiya.m Buddha.m upasa`nkamitvaa saddhaaya vanditvaa bhuumiya.m a.t.thaasi.
on one / on occassion / a certain / deva / in night / Buddha / having approached / with faith / having saluted / on ground / stood
On one occassion, a certain deva approached the Buddha in the night, saluted (him) with faith and stood on the ground.

.Thito so devo Buddha.m eka.m pañha.m pucchi.
stood / that / deva / Buddha / one / question / asked
That deva, standing, asked the Buddha one question.

Pucchantassa devassa Buddho eva.m dhamma.m desesi.
asking / deva / Buddha / thus / Dhamma / preached
The Buddha thus preached the Dhamma to the deva who is asking.

19. Te ga`ngaaya.m nahaayante maya.m passimhaa.
them / in river / bathing / we / saw
We saw them bathing in the river.

20. "Sabbesu bhuutesu nidhaaya da.n.da.m*****
towards all / towards beings / having left aside / stick
Leaving aside the cudgel towards all beings,

Avihe.thaya.m aññataram'pi tesa.m
not hurting / certain (one) - and / of them
and not hurting any of them,

Na puttam'iccheyya kuto sahaaya.m
not / son / (he) should wish / whence / friend
he would not wish (for) a son. Whence a friend?

Eko care khaggavisaa.nakappo."
one / should wander / like a rhinoceros
One should wander (alone) like a rhinoceros.

* These are Locative absolutes. Duroiselle 603(ii): The Locative absolute may often be translated by "when, while, since" and sometimes by 'although'. Warder Chapter 16: Noun (or Pronoun) + Participle [can be active or passive]. Both in locative case. See also Exercise 14B-10.

** Sentence in Absolute voice. See Ven. Pandita's explanation:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali/message/6595
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali/message/6626

*** See Ven. Pandita's explanation on vicchaa, the concept of reduplicated words, and analysis of the sentence in Relational Grammar:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali/message/6769

**** 'to' is another suffix for forming the ablative.

***** Verse from Sutta Nipaata. More doctrinal information here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali/message/6667

Exercise 14-B: Translate into Pali.

1. This was done by you.
ida.m* / kata.m / te
Ida.m te kata.m.

2. The branch was cut by him.
saakhaa / chinnaa / tena
Saakhaa tena chinnaa.

3. I saw a man going in the street.
aha.m / passi.m / nara.m / gacchanta.m / visikhaaya
Aha.m visikhaaya gacchanta.m nara.m passi.m.

4. She stood saluting the sage.
saa / a.t.thaasi / vandantii / muni.m
Saa muni.m vandantii a.t.thaasi.

5. I came home when he had gone to school.
aha.m / aagato / ghara.m / tasmi.m / gate** / paa.thasaala.m
Tasmi.m paa.thasaala.m gate aha.m ghara.m aagato.

6. The monkeys ate the fallen fruits.
kapayo / khaadi.msu / patitaani / phalaani
Kapayo patitaani phalaani khaadi.msu.

7. They saw her sitting in the hall.
te / passi.msu / ta.m / nisiidanti.m / salaaya
Te salaaya nisiidanti.m ta.m passi.msu.

8. You should not bathe in the river (Ganges).
tayaa / na nahaatabba.m / ga`ngaaya.m
Tayaa ga`ngaaya.m na nahaatabba.m.

9. Let him do what should be done.
so / karontu / ya.m…ta.m / kattabba.m
Ya.m kattabba.m ta.m so karontu.

10. Thus should it be understood by you.
eva.m / te / ta.m / da.t.thabba.m***
Eva.m te ta.m da.t.thabba.m.

11. The books written by me should not be given to them.
potthakaani / likhitaani / mayaa / na daatabbaani / tesa.m
Mayaa likhitaani potthakaani na tesa.m daatabbaani.

12. My friends saw the jewel that was thrown into the fire.
mayha.m / mittaani / passi.msu / ma.ni.m / khitta.m / aggimhi
Mayha.m mittaani aggimhi khitta.m ma.ni.m passi.msu.

13. I sat on the ground listening to the doctrine preached by the monks.
aha.m / nisiidi.m / bhuumiya.m / su.nanto / dhamma.m / desita.m / bhikkhuuhi
Bhikkhuuhi desita.m dhamma.m su.nanto aha.m bhuumiya.m nisiidi.m.

14. The virtuous should do much merit.
gu.navantehi / kattabba.m / bahu.m / puñña.m
Gu.navantehi bahu.m puñña.m kattabba.m.

15. The people saw the sick persons drinking medicine given by the physician.
naraa / passi.msu / gilaane / pibante / osadha.m / dinna.m / vajjena
Naraa vajjena dinna.m osadha.m pibante gilaane passi.msu.

* Refer to Lesson 15.

** Locative absolute: see also Exercise 14A-2/12.

*** Da.t.thabba [from dassati]: should be seen as, should be regarded as.