You should be quick in doing good. One should restrain mind from evil.
The mind of somebody, who is slow in doing good, delights in evil.

abhittharetha kalyane   papa   cittaj nivaraye
|                        |            |           |           |
V.act.             N.n.      N.n.     N.n.   V.act.opt.
2.Pl.opt.       Loc.Sg. Abl.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|_____________|             |           |______|
                                      |_________|

List of Abbreviations

dandhaj hi    karoto pubbaj papasmij ramati     mano
|               |         |           |             |             |              |
Adj.n.   part.  Adj.m.    N.n.      N.n.     V.act.in.     N.n.
Acc.Sg.    |    Gen.Sg. Acc.Sg.  Loc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
|________|_____|______|              |             |               |
               |         |__|                     |             |               |
               |______|                       |             |                |
                     |________________|_______|_________|
                                                  |             |____|
                                                  |_________|

abhittharetha, V.: make haste, be quick. It is probably a misspelling of abhittaretha (with the same meaning). It is derived from the verb root tar- (to make haste, to move quickly, to hurry) with the prefix abhi- (intensifying sense). 2.Pl.act.opt. = abhittharetha.

kalyane: kalyana-, Adj.: good, virtuous. As an N.n.: goodness, meritorious action. Loc.Sg. = kalyane.

papa: papa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Abl.Sg. = papa.

cittaj: citta-, N.n.: mind. Acc.Sg. = cittaj.

nivaraye, V.: to keep back, to restrain. The verb root is var- (to obstruct) with the prefix ni- (out, from). 3.Sg.act.caus.opt. = nivaraye.

dandhaj: dandha-, Adj.: slow. Acc.Sg.n. = dandhaj.

List of Abbreviations

hi, part.: indeed.

karoto: karont-, Adj.: doing. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root kar- (to do). Gen.Sg.m. = karoto.

pubbaj: pubba-, N.n.: good deed, meritorious deed, merit. Acc.Sg. = pubbaj.

papasmij: papa-, N.n.: see above. Loc.Sg. = papasmij.

ramati, V.: delights. The verb root is ram- (to enjoy, to delight in).
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = ramati. The form ramati is sometimes used in poetry.

mano: mano-, N.n.: mind. Nom.Sg. = mano.

List of Abbreviations

    This sentence consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) abhittharetha kalyane (you should be quick in doing good). The subject of this sentence is omitted. The verb indicates the second person plural pronoun. The verb is abhittharetha (you should be quick, 2^nd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the adjective/noun kalyane (in good [things], locative singular).
    2) papa cittaj nivaraye (one should restrain mind from evil). Again, the subject is omitted, the verb form implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is nivaraye (one should restrain, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun cittaj (mind, accusative singular) with its attributed, the noun papa (from evil, ablative singular).
    3) dandhaj hi karoto pubbaj papasmij ramati mano (the mind of somebody, who is slow in doing good, delights in evil). The subject of this sentence is the noun mano (mind, nominative singular). Its main attribute is the active present participle karoto (of the one, who is doing, genitive singular). This word has an attribute, the noun pubbaj (good [things], accusative singular) and it in turn has the adjective dandhaj (slow, accusative singular) as an attribute. It is further stressed by the particle hi (indeed) which here serves mainly metrical purposes. The verb is ramati (delights, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun papasmij (in evil, locative singular).

    In Savatthi there lived a poor brahmin with his wife. They had only one piece of outer garment, so only one of them could go out at one time. They were lay disciple of the Buddha and wanted to hear as many of his discourses as possible. So the brahmin would go to the monastery at night and his wife during the day. Once the brahmin was listening to the Buddha and he felt very strong wish to perform meritorious deeds. He wanted to offer his only piece of cloth to the Buddha. But he realized that he and his wife would have nothing to wear then. So his mind wavered and he hesitated. Finally during the last hours of the night he offered his cloth to the Buddha, saying, "I win!"
    The king of Kosala, Pasenadi, was also present, and when he heard the brahmin he sent messengers to ask why he shouted, "I win!" When he learned the brahmin's story, he was very much impressed and decided to give him a reward. He ordered the brahmin be offered a new piece of cloth. The brahmin gave that piece also to the Buddha. The king gave him two pieces of cloth, which were again offered to the Buddha. Pasenadi again doubled the number of clothes; the brahmin again gave them to the Buddha. So at the end the king gave him thirty-two pieces of cloth, the brahmin kept one for himself, one for his wife, and remaining thirty he again offered to the Buddha.
    The king was so much impressed that he decided to reward the brahmin further. He gave him two pieces of very expensive velvet cloth. The brahmin made two canopies out of them, kept one for himself and his wife and the second one he offered to the Buddha. The king then saw the canopy in the monastery and realized that the brahmin has done a meritorious deed again. So he decided to reward him even more.
    Some monks wondered how it was possible that in this case a good deed brings good results so quickly. The Buddha replied, that had the brahmin offered his garment immediately when the idea occurred to him, his reward would have been much greater. He then added this verse, saying that if one wants to perform meritorious deeds, one should do so quickly, without hesitation. If one thinks about it too long, then maybe it becomes impossible to do anything at all, because the mind delights in evil.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

abhittharetha
kalyane
papa
cittaj
nivaraye
dandhaj
hi
karoto
pubbaj
papasmij
ramati
mano