Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

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knowledgeseeker_1
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Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

Post by knowledgeseeker_1 »

Hi Everyone,

I am interested in understanding the Pali grammar for the word bee in the following verse of the Dhammapada:
"As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its colour or scent, so let a sage dwell in his village" (Dhammapada, Chapter IV, verse 49).

I've searched the internet for online versions of Dhammapada in original Pali and come across differening transliterations used for bee:

'Bhamara' / 'Madhukara' / 'Bhamaro'


Does anyone know which Pali word is contained in the original Pali text?

In particular, I'd like to understand the gender of the bee, is it male or female? The words Bhamara and Madhukara, for example, both seem to be masculine:

http://dictionary.buddhistdoor.com/en/w ... 43/bhamara

http://dictionary.buddhistdoor.com/en/w ... /madhukara


Does this verse indicate that the bee is a male bee? What would the equivalent Pali be for a female bee? If there is no female equivalent, then is the word gender neutral (I don't think it is because of the dictionary above, but I can't say for sure)?

Thanks for your help.
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Cittasanto
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Re: Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

Post by Cittasanto »

There you go!
yathā pi bhamaro pupphaṃ vaṇṇagandhaṃ aheṭhayaṃ
paleti rasam ādāya evaṃ gāme munī care


Welcome to Dhamma Wheel BTW
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He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
knowledgeseeker_1
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Re: Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

Post by knowledgeseeker_1 »

Thanks for you response, really appreciate it. At least now I have a clear starting point...

Bhamaro doesn't seem to exist in the online dictionary, which is confusing me a little. Since Bhamara is in the dictionary, and is a masculine noun, could it be that the -o ending in Bhamaro is for a different gender (i.e. female bee) or has some other specific grammatical property e.g. nominative noun? How would one say "female bee" in Pali?

Thank you.

*Edit was for a typo I made*
vitellius
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Re: Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

Post by vitellius »

Dear knowledgeseeker_1,

Nouns are declined in Pali, so this is that very word, but in a certain case.

Bhamaro is the nominative case of bhamara.

PS You can find grammatical analysis of this verse here:
http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/en/ ... atha49.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Cittasanto
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Re: Help with Pali grammar for Dhammapada, Chapter IV, Verse 49

Post by Cittasanto »

knowledgeseeker_1 wrote:Thanks for you response, really appreciate it. At least now I have a clear starting point...

Bhamaro doesn't seem to exist in the online dictionary, which is confusing me a little. Since Bhamara is in the dictionary, and is a masculine noun, could it be that the -o ending in Bhamaro is for a different gender (i.e. female bee) or has some other specific grammatical property e.g. nominative noun? How would one say "female bee" in Pali?

Thank you.

*Edit was for a typo I made*
the declentions aren't shown in the dictionary.
it is a nominative singular masculine variation, all the words in that form are masculine from what I can see.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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