Just like a wrongly taken kusa grass cuts the hand,
wrongly grasped monkshood drags one towards the hell.

kuso         yatha   duggahito hattham eva anukantati
|                   |            |              |         |           |
N.m.      Rel.Adv.  Adj.m.     N.m.   part.  V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.       |       Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.    |    3.Sg.pres.
|___________|______|               |_____|______|
                    |      |                          |__|
                    |      |________________|
                    |____________|
                              |________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

samabbaj dupparamatthaj nirayaya upakaddhati
|                            |                   |               |
N.n.                  Adj.n.           N.m.      V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.          Nom.Sg.       Dat.Sg.    3.Sg.pres.
|________________|                  |_________|
              |_______________________|
___________________|

kuso: kusa-, N.m.: a kind of sacred grass. Nom.Sg. = kuso.

yatha, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

duggahito: duggahita-, Adj.: wrongly taken. It is a compound of:
    du-, Pref.: bad, wrong.
    gahita-, Adj.: taken, seized, held. It is a p.p. of the verb root gah- (to hold, to take).
Euphonic combination: du- + gahita- = duggahita-.
Nom.Sg.m. = duggahito.

hattham: hattha-, N.m.: hand. Acc.Sg. = hattham.

eva, part.: just, only.

anukantati, V.: cuts. The verb root is kat- (to cut) with the prefix anu- (along, at).
3.Sg.act.in.pres. = anukantati.
Euphonic combination: eva + anukantati = evanukantati.

List of Abbreviations

samabbaj: samabba-, N.n.: monkshood. An abstract from samana-, N.m.: monk, recluse.
Nom.Sg. = samabbaj.

dupparamatthaj: dupparamattha-, Adj.: wrongly touched, wrongly grasped. It is a compound of:
    du-, Pref.: bad, wrong.
    paramattha-, Adj.: grasped, held. It is a p.p. of the verb root mas- (to touch) with the prefix para- (on to, over).
Euphonic combination: du- + paramattha- = dupparamattha-.
Nom.Sg.n. = dupparamatthaj.

nirayaya: niraya-, N.m.: hell. Dat.Sg. = nirayaya.

upakaddhati, V.: drags to, pulls towards. The verb root is kaddh- (to drag) with the prefix upa- (towards, to). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = upakaddhati.
Euphonic combination: nirayaya + upakaddhati = nirayayupakaddhati.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two related sentences. They are:
    1) kuso yatha duggahito hattham evanukantati (just like a wrongly taken kusa grass cuts the hand). The subject is the noun kuso (kusa grass, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective duggahito (wrongly taken, nominative singular). The verb is anukantati (cuts, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun hattham (hand, accusative singular). It is stressed by the particle eva (just). The relative adverb yatha (just as, like) connects the sentence to the following one.
    2) samabbaj dupparamatthaj nirayayupakaddhati (wrongly grasped monkshood drags one towards the hell). The subject is the noun samabbaj (monkshood, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective dupparamatthaj (wrongly grasped, nominative singular). The verb is upakaddhati (drags to, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun nirayaya (towards hell, dative singular).

    There was a monk who once unintentionally cut of some plants. He felt very remorseful and confessed to another monk his offence. This second monk just laughed at him, saying that cutting of plants is only a very minor offence. To show, what he felt about it, this monk started to uproot plants around him.
    When the Buddha heard about this, he advised this monk by this verse (and two following one, DhP 312 and DhP 313) not to think little of minor rules. Plants are also living beings and should not be destroyed without reason. At first, the monk was obstinate, but later he realized the importance of the monk's precepts. Thereafter he followed the moral code strictly and practiced the meditation diligently. Later he attained the Arahantship.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

kuso
yatha
duggahito
hattham
eva
anukantati
samabbaj
dupparamatthaj
nirayaya
upakaddhati