Hard to get is the human birth; difficult is the life of a mortal.
Difficult is listening to the True Dharma; hard to come by is the appearance of the Awakened Ones.

kiccho manussa+patilabho kicchaj maccana  jivitaj
|               |              |             |             |             |
Adj.m.   N.m.       N.m.     Adj.n.      N.m.      N.n.
Nom.Sg.   |        Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.  Gen.Pl.  Nom.Sg.
|               |________|             |             |_______|
|____________|                     |___________|

List of Abbreviations

kicchaj saddhamma+ssavanaj  kiccho buddhanam uppado
|                    |                 |              |            |               |
Adj.n.         N.m.          N.n.      Adj.m.     N.m.        N.m.
Nom.Sg.        |           Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl.   Nom.Sg.
|                    |_________|               |            |________|
|________________|                       |___________|

kiccho: kiccha-, Adj.: hard [to get, to come by], difficult. Nom.Sg.m. = kiccho.

manussapatilabho: manussapatilabha-, N.m.: coming into existence as a human being. It is a compound of:
    manussa-, N.m.: human, person, man.
    patilabha-, N.m.: obtaining, attainment. It is derived from the verb root labh- (to get) with the prefix pati- (on to, at).
Nom.Sg. = manussapatilabho.

kicchaj: kiccha-, Adj.: see above. Nom.Sg.n. = kicchaj.

maccana: macca-, N.m.: mortal, a living being. Gen.Pl. = maccana (instead of more usual maccanaj).

jivitaj: jivita-, N.n.: life. Originally it is a p.p. of the verb jiv- (to live). Nom.Sg. = jivitaj.

kicchaj: see above.

List of Abbreviations

saddhammassavanaj: saddhammassavana-, N.n.: listening to the True Dharma. It is a compound of:
    saddhamma-, N.m.: true Dharma.
        sad-, Adj.: good, true. Original meaning: existing. The full form (sant-) is an a.pr.p. of the verb as- (to be). The compound form of sant- = sat-.
        dhamma-, N.m.: Dharma, Buddha's teaching.
    Euphonic combination: sat- + dhamma- = saddhamma-.
    savana-, N.n.: listening, hearing. It is derived from verb root su- (to hear).
Euphonic combination: saddhamma- + savana- = saddhammassavana-.
Nom.Sg. = saddhammassavanaj.

kiccho: see above.

buddhanam: buddha-, Adj.: awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb root budh- (to awaken). As a N.m.: Awakened One, Enlightened One, a being who has attained the Nirvana. Gen.Pl. = buddhanaj.

uppado: uppada-, N.m.: appearance, birth, coming into existence. It is derived from the verb root pad- (to come) with the prefix ud- (up). Nom.Sg. = uppado.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) kiccho manussapatilabho (hard to get is the human birth). The subject is the compound manussapatilabho (receiving of the human birth, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective kiccho (hard [to get], nominative singular).
    2) kicchaj maccana jivitaj (difficult is the life of a mortal). The subject is the noun jivitaj (life, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun maccana (of mortals, genitive plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective kicchaj (difficult, nominative singular).
    3) kicchaj saddhammassavanaj (difficult is listening to the True Dharma). The subject is the compound saddhammassavanaj (listening to the True Dharma, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective kicchaj (difficult, nominative singular).
    4) kiccho buddhanam uppado (hard to come by is the appearance of the Awakened Ones). The subject is the noun uppado (appearance, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun buddhanaj (of the Awakened Ones, genitive plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective kiccho (hard [to come by], nominative singular).

    During the times of the past Buddha Kassapa, there was a monk. Once he committed a wrong deed and was tormented by regret. He was not able to overcome this and concentrate on his practice. Therefore he made no progress and was reborn as a Naga. Nagas are mythological beings, snakes that can change into humans. They are believed to have miraculous powers.
    This Naga's name was Erakapatta. He had a beautiful daughter. He announced that whoever could answer her questions, could marry her. Many young men tried but nobody was successful.
    Once a young man named Uttara was on his way to try to answer the questions. The Buddha saw that he was very close to attaining the first stage of Awakenment, therefore he taught him answers to the questions. Immediately, Uttara attained the first stage. As a result, he had no longer desire for the Naga princess. But he still went there to answer her questions.
    The girl asked: "Who is a ruler?
    Uttara replied: "Who controls his six senses."
    "Is someone overpowered by moral defilements to be called a ruler?"
    "No, only who is free from moral defilements can be called a ruler."
    "What ruler is free from moral defilements?"
    "One who is free from selfishness."
    "Who is to be called a fool?"
    "One who strives after sensual pleasures is a fool."
    Uttara then answered many more questions. When Erakapatta found out that somebody was able to answer, he realized that a Buddha was again in this world. He asked Uttara to take him to the Buddha. There he paid homage to the Buddha and related his story.
    The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that it is extremely rare to be born as a human being, and even rarer to be able to hear the Dharma from the mouth of a Buddha.
    At the end of the discourse many monks attained Arahantship or at least the first stage of Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

kiccho
manussapatilabho
manussa
patilabho
kicchaj
maccana
jivitaj
saddhammassavanaj
sad
dhamma
savanaj
buddhanam
uppado