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buddhavacana

4.6: kattā and hetu (Agent and Causer)

This section covers the two kāraka (participants in the action) that bring the action about: the kattā (the agent), the one who does the action {281}, and the hetu (the causer), the one who makes the agent do it {282}. In atha kho bhagavā … nisīdi (“then the Bhagavā sat down”, 3: 2.2) the agent is bhagavā: it carries the ① ending, and the verb nisīdi agrees with it. The causer is an agent as well, which is why the Basics chapter calls it the hetu-kattā.

The agent does not always stand in ①, so the question to ask of such a sentence is what kind of verb it has: active (🟢), passive (🔵) or a past participle (🔽(ta)), or causative (🟠). The three sentence patterns are set out in the Basics chapter under Example sentence constructions, and every rule number below links to the full rule in the Kaccāyana translation.

How to find the agent and the causer

Section titled “How to find the agent and the causer”
what the noun is doing what you see example rule
the agent (kattā) of an active verb 🟢 the ① ending; the verb agrees with it in number and person bhagavā … nisīdi, “the Bhagavā sat down” (3: 2.2) {281}, {284}
the agent of a passive verb 🔵 or of a past participle 🔽(ta) the ③ ending, “by”; the thing done takes ① and the verb agrees with that ahinā daṭṭho naro, “the man [is] bitten by a snake” {281}, {288}
the causer (hetu), who makes the agent act the ① ending with a causative verb 🟠 (-eti, -āpeti, “makes someone do”): kāreti, hāreti, pāṭheti, pāceti, dhāreti so puriso … kāreti, “that man makes … do” {282}, {438}
the one made to act by the causer the ② ending, or ③, or ⑥ taṁ purisaṁ, tena purisena, tassa purisassa {282}, {300}

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

The agent of an active verb, in ① {281}, {284} (9: 1.2):

Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi—

⏏️(tatra) ⏏️(kho) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚹⨂②(bhikkhu) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(āmanteti)
there / indeed / the Bhagavā / bhikkhū / addressed
There the Bhagavā addressed the bhikkhū:

The agent of a past participle, in ③ {281}, {288}:

ahinā daṭṭho naro

🚹⨀③(ahinā) ⨀🚹①(🔽(ta)(daṭṭho) naro)
by a snake / bitten / the man
The man [is] bitten by a snake.

The causer, in ① with a causative verb {282}:

so puriso taṁ purisaṁ kammaṁ kāreti

🚹⨀①(*️⃣🤟(so) puriso) 🚹⨀②(*️⃣🤟(taṁ) purisaṁ) 🚻⨀②(kammaṁ) 🟠⨀🤟▶️(kāreti)
that man / that man / the work / makes do
That man makes that man do the work.

Exercises

Section titled “Exercises”

In each sentence find the agent or the causer and say which ending it carries and why. Look up the words in a dictionary, perform the necessary sandhi and compound word deconstruction, and take note of the vibhatti endings to deduce the meaning of the sentence. The first four sentences are from the texts, each linked to its sentence; the last is Kaccāyana’s own.

  1. Atha kho bhagavā bodhirukkhamūle sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisīdi vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī. (3: 2.2)
  2. Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā (3: 6.1)
  3. Vuttaṁ kho panetaṁ bhagavatā kakacūpamovāde (Bonus: 45, 9.5)
  4. majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā (5: 2.4)
  5. so puriso tena purisena kammaṁ kāreti

Answers

Section titled “Answers”

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

  1. Atha kho bhagavā bodhirukkhamūle sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisīdi vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī.

⏏️(atha) ⏏️(kho) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚻⨀⑦🆎(bodhirukkha+mūla) 🚻⨀②🆎(satta+aha) 🚹⨀③🆎(eka+pallaṅka) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(nisīdati) 🚹⨀①🆎(vimuttisukha+paṭisaṁvedī)
then / indeed / the Bhagavā / at the root of the bodhi tree / for seven days / in one cross-legged posture / sat down / experiencing the bliss of liberation
Then the Bhagavā sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one cross-legged posture, experiencing the bliss of liberation (vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī).

The verb is active, so the agent is the ① word, bhagavā {284}; ekapallaṅkena in ③ is not the agent.

  1. Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā

⏏️(yadā) ⏏️(have) 🟢⨂🤟▶️(pātubhavati) 🚹⨂①(dhamma)
when / indeed / appear / phenomena
When indeed dhammā (phenomena) become manifest

The agent dhammā is plural and in ①; the verb pātubhavanti agrees with it, though it comes first {284}.

  1. Vuttaṁ kho panetaṁ bhagavatā kakacūpamovāde

🚻⨀①(vutta) 🔼(kho) 🔼(panetaṁ) 🚹⨀③(bhagavant) 🚹⨀⑦(kakacūpamovāda)
said / indeed / but this / by Bhagavant / exhortation with the simile of the saw
But this is indeed said by the Bhagavant in the exhortation with the simile of the saw:

vuttaṁ (“said”) is a past participle, so the agent bhagavatā, the ③ of bhagavant (section 2.3), is “by” {288}.

  1. majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā

🚺⨀①(majjhima) 🚺⨀①(paṭipadā) 🚹⨀③🆎(tathā+gata) 🚺⨀①🔽(ta)(abhisambuddha)
middle / way / by the Tathāgata / fully awakened
The majjhimā paṭipadā (Middle Way) has been abhisambuddha (fully awakened) by the Tathāgata.

abhisambuddhā (“fully awakened”) is a past participle: paṭipadā, the thing done, is in ① and agrees with it, and the agent tathāgatena is in ③, “by” {288}.

  1. so puriso tena purisena kammaṁ kāreti

🚹⨀①(*️⃣🤟(so) puriso) 🚹⨀③(*️⃣🤟(tena) purisena) 🚻⨀②(kammaṁ) 🟠⨀🤟▶️(kāreti)
that man / by that man / the work / makes do
That man has the work done by that man.

The causer so puriso is in ① with the causative kāreti {282}; the one made to act is in ③ here.