From sole sovereignty over the earth, or from going to heaven,
from lordship over the whole world, the fruit of Entering the Stream is the best.

pathavya eka+rajjena saggassa gamanena va
|                |         |           |             |          |
N.f.       Num.  N.n.     N.m.       N.n.    conj.
Gen.Sg.     |    Ins.Sg. Gen.Sg.   Ins.Sg.     |
|                |_____|           |_______|          |
|____________|                      |_________|
           |_______________________|_______________________________

List of Abbreviations

sabba+loka+adhipaccena sota+apatti+phalaj   varaj
|            |              |            |         |         |             |
Adj.   N.m.        N.n.      N.n.   N.f.    N.n.      Adj.n.
|_______|         Ins.Sg.       |_____|   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
       |___________|                |________|             |
_________|                                   |                    |
        |________________________|___________|
                            |_____________|

pathavya: pathavi-, N.f.: earth, world. Gen.Sg. = pathavya.

ekarajjena: ekarajja-, N.n.: sole sovereignty. It is a compound of:
    eka-, Num.: one.
    rajja-, N.n.: sovereignty, kingship, reign.
Ins.Sg. = ekarajjena.

saggassa: sagga-, N.m.: heaven. Gen.Sg. = saggassa.

gamanena: gamana-, N.n.: going. It is derived from the verb root gam- (to go). Ins.Sg. = gamanena.

va, conj.: or.

List of Abbreviations

sabbalokadhipaccena: sabbalokadhipacca-, N.n.: lordship over the whole world. It is a compound of:
    sabba-, Adj.: all.
    loka-, N.m.: world.
   adhipacca-, N.n.: supreme rule, lordship.
Ins.Sg. = sabbalokadhipaccena.

sotapattiphalaj: sotapattiphala-, N.n.; the fruit of Entering the Stream. It is a compound of:
    sotapatti-, N.f.: Entering the Stream, the first level of Awakenment. It is a compound of:
        sota-, N.n.: stream.
        apatti-, N.f.: entering. It is derived from the verb root pat- (to fall, to go) with the prefix a- (to, towards).
    phala-, N.n.: fruit.
Nom.Sg. = sotapattiphalaj.

varaj: vara-, Adj.: best. Nom.Sg.n. = varaj.

List of Abbreviations

    The subject of this sentence is the compound sotapattiphalaj (the fruit of Entering the Stream, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective varaj (the best, nominative singular). The object has three attributes:
    1) the compound ekarajjena (from sole sovereignty, instrumental singular) with its attribute, the noun pathavya (of the earth, genitive singular),
    2) the noun gamanena (from going, instrumental singular) with its attribute, the noun saggassa (of heaven, genitive singular), which is connected to the previous attribute by the conjunction va (or),
    3) the compound sabbalokadhipaccena (from lordship over the whole world, instrumental singular).

    Anathapindika was a very famous benefactor of the Buddha and his followers. But his son Kala did not have any interest in the teaching of the Buddha and would never come to attend the almsgiving ceremonies. His father was afraid that Kala would never be able to understand the Dharma. So he promised his son one hundred pieces of gold if he went to the monastery for one day. The young man did so, but did not pay any attention to what was being said there.
    At another time Anathapindika promised Kala one thousand pieces of gold if he could recite one verse of the Buddha's teaching. Because the Buddha knew Kala was interested only in the money, he made it impossible for him to memorize anything. Thus Kala went to the monastery very often and gradually he was able to understand the Dharma and attained the first level of Awakenment, called Entering the Stream.
    In the morning of that day, he accompanied the Buddha and some monks to his father's house for the almsgiving. When his father offered him the money he earned, Kala refused. The Buddha then explained that since Kala attained the first level of Awakenment, he was on longer interested in the money. He further added this verse, saying that Entering the Stream was the best thing one could attain, far better than any worldly power or even attainment of a rebirth in heavens.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pathavya
ekarajjena
eka
rajjena
saggassa
gamanena
va
sabbalokadhipaccena
sabba
loka
adhipaccena
sotapattiphalaj
sota
apatti
phalaj
varaj