An Elementary Pali Course Lesson XVII

Exercise 17-A: Translate into English.

1. "Aya.m me attano attho."
this / my / own / matter
"This (is) my own matter."

2. "Na me so attaa."
is not / mine / that / soul
"That is not my soul."

3. "Bhagavato etam* attha.m aaroceyyaama."
to the Blessed One / this / matter / (we) shall inform
"We shall announce this matter to the Blessed One."
Alt: "We shall inform the Blessed One of this matter."

4. "Dhamma.m cara raaja!"
Dhamma / practise! / O king
"O king, practise the Dhamma!"
Alt: "O king, walk the Dhamma!"

5. "Attaa hi attano naatho - Ko hi naatho paro siyaa."
self / indeed / own / refuge / what? / indeed / refuge / another / is
Lit: Self indeed (is) one's refuge, indeed what is another refuge.
Self indeed is one's refuge for what else could refuge be?

6. "Attaana.m rakkhanto para.m rakkhati.
self / protecting / others / (he) protects
"Protecting oneself, he protects others.
Alt: He (who) protects oneself protects others,

Para.m rakkhanto attaana.m rakkhati."
others / protecting / self / (he) protects
Protecting others, he protects oneself."
Alt: he (who) protects others protects oneself.

7. Atiite pana amhaaka.m ra.t.the gu.navaa raajaa ahosi.
once upon a time / but / our / in country / virtuous / king / there was
Once upon a time, there was but (a) virtuous king in our country.

8. Ra~n~naa likhitam* ida.m lekhana.m amaccaa passantu!
by king / written / this / letter / ministers / see!
Let the ministers see this letter written by the king.

9. Paapakehi amaccehi ra~n~no ko attho?
with evil / with ministers / of king / what? / good
What (is) the good of a king with evil ministers?

10. Amhaaka.m raajaana.m passitu.m puratthimaaya disaaya dve raajaano aagataa.
our / king / to see / to East / from direction / two / kings / have come**
The two kings have come from the Eastern direction (i.e. direction to the East) to see our king.

11. Raajaa attano mahesiyaa saddhi.m paasaade vasati.
king / own / with queen / in palace / lives
The king lives in the palace with his own queen.

12. Catuuhi disaahi cattaaro raajaano aagantvaa Bhagavanta.m vanditvaa etam'attha.m pucchi.msu.
from four / from quarters / four / kings / having come / Blessed One / having venerated / this-matter / questioned
The four kings from the four quarters, having come and paid respect to the Blessed One, asked (about) this matter.

13. "Puttaa m'atthi*** dhana.m m'atthi - Iti baalo vihaññati.
sons / have I / wealth / have I / thus / the foolish one / perishes
'I have sons, I have wealth', the fool thus perishes.

Attaa hi attano n'atthi - Kuto puttaa kuto dhana.m."
self / indeed / own / is not / whence / sons / whence / wealth
Indeed, the self is not (one's) own. How then sons? How then wealth?

14. "Attanaa'va kata.m paapa.m - attanaa sa`nkilissati.
by self-only / is done / evil / by self / (one) is defiled
By self alone is evil done, by self is one defiled.

Attanaa akata.m paapa.m - attanaa'va visujjhati."
by self / is not done / evil / by self-only / (one) is purified
By self is not evil done, by self alone is one purified.

* .m is changed to m. Also from Duroiselle's Grammar (page 15):
42. When precedeng a vowel, niggahita becomes m:
(i) ta.m+attha.m=tamattha.m.
(ii) ya.m+aahu=yam aahu.
(iii) ki.m+eta.m=kim eta.m.
Remarks. Rule[s 39 and] 42 are not strictly adhered to in texts edited in Roman characters; in prose above all, niggahita is allowed to remain unchanged before a vowel or a consonant, even in the middle of a word sometimes; in poetry, the retention of niggahita or its change to m before a vowel, is regulated by the exigencies of the metres.

** Here, the copulative 'honti' is implied.

*** me-atthi: lit. of me there is.
This verse is taken from the Dhammapada v. 62.
This is the case where Pali differs from English. In English we say "I have sons." In Pali they say "There are sons of me." (here "there is sons of me"). It must be idiomatic, to fit with the meter, that "atthi" is still singular, when puttaa is clearly nominative plural (i.e. the subject of the verb atthi). The strictly correct grammar should be: puttaa me santi, dhana.m m'atthi.

Exercise 17-B: Translate into Pali.

1. I am my own master.
aha.m / (me) / attano / adhipati
Aha.m attano adhipati.

2. He advised himself.
so / ovadi / atta.m
So atta.m ovadi.

3. These presents were sent by the king.
ete / pa.n.naakaaraa / pesitaa / ra~n~naa
Ete pa.n.naakaaraa ra~n~naa pesitaa.

4. Good or evil is done by oneself.
pu~n~na.m va / paapa.m va / kata.m / attena
Pu~n~na.m va paapa.m ca attena kata.m.

5. The ministers taking their own sons went to the palace to see the king.
amaccaa / ga.nhantaa / (tassa) / attaana.m / putte / gami.msu / paasaada.m / passitu.m / raajaana.m
Attaana.m putte ga.nhantaa amaccaa raajaana.m passitu.m paasaada.m gami.msu.

6. It is not good for kings to get angry with the people.
na sundara.m / raajaano / kujjhanti / purisehi
Na sundara.m raajaano purisehi kujjhanti.

7. Virtuous kings are always respected by all.
gu.navanto / raajaano / sadaa/nicca.m / vanditaa / sabbehi
Gu.navanto raajaano sadaa/nicca.m sabbehi vanditaa.

8. He does not know his own good.
so / na jaanaati / (tassa) / attano / attha.m
So attano attha.m na jaanaati.

9. Righteous kings do not wish to associate with wicked kings.
dhammikaa / raajaano / na icchanti / bhajitu.m / saddhi.m / adhammikehi / raajuuhi
Dhammikaa raajaano adhammikehi raajuuhi saddhi.m bhajitu.m na icchanti.

10. By wisdom is one purified.
pa~n~naaya / attaa / visujjhati
Attaa pa~n~naaya visujjhati.

11. Ministers obtain wealth by means of kings.
amaccaa / labhanti / dhana.m / raajuubhi
Amaccaa raajuubhi dhana.m labhanti.

12. He for his own good associates with kings and ministers.
so / (tassa) / attano / atthassa / bhajati / raajuubhi ca / amaccehi ca
So attano atthassa raajuubhi ca amaccehi ca bhajati.

13. Some kings perish on account of their greediness towards the countries of others.
ekacce / raajaano / viha~n~nanti / (tassa) / lobhena / ra.t.thaana.m / a~n~nesa.m
Ekacce raajaano a~n~nesa.m ra.t.thaana.m lobhena viha~n~nanti.

14. The ministers told that matter to the king.
amaccaa / aaroci.msu / ta.m / attha.m / ra~n~no
Amaccaa ra~n~no ta.m attha.m aaroci.msu.

15. He does not shine like a king.
so / na dippati / viya / eko / raajaa
So eko raajaa viya na dippati.