Don't associate with the dear ones, and never with those who are unloved.
Not seeing the dear ones is suffering - and seeing the unloved ones.

ma   piyehi samagabchi appiyehi kudacanaj
|           |             |               |              |
neg. Adj.m.    V.act.      Adj.m.      Adv.
|       Ins.Pl.  2.Sg.aor.    Ins.Pl.          |
|______|_______|               |________|
     |___|                                    |
         |_____________________|

List of Abbreviations

piyanaj adassanaj dukkhaj appiyanaj ca  dassanaj
|                    |              |                |          |          |
Adj.m.     Nom.n.      N.n.         Adj.m.  conj.    N.n.
Gen.Pl.   Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.     Gen.Pl.     |     Nom.Sg.
|___________|              |                |______|_____|
         |______________|                      |___|
                     |______________________|

ma, neg.: not, do not. Used with verbs in imperative and aorist instead of the more usual negative particle na.

piyehi: piya-, Adj.: dear, agreeable. Ins.Pl.m. = piyehi.

samagabchi, V.: meet, come together, associate with. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefixes a- (towards) and sam- (together). 2.Sg.act.aor. = samagabchi.

appiyehi: appiya-, Adj.: unpleasant, not agreeable. It is the word piya- (see above) negated by the negative prefix a-. Euphonic combination: a- + piya- = appiya-. Ins.Pl.m. = appiyehi.

kudacanaj, Adv.: at any time (ma kudacanaj, as in this verse: never).

List of Abbreviations

piyanaj: piya-, Adj.: see above. Gen.Pl. = piyanaj.

adassanaj adassana-, N.n.: invisibility, not seeing. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word dassana-, N.n.: seeing, which is derived from the verb root das- (to see). Nom.Sg. = adassanaj.

dukkhaj: dukkha-, N.n.: suffering. Nom.Sg. = dukkhaj.

appiyanaj: appiya-, Adj.: see above. Gen.Pl.m. = appiyanaj.

ca, conj.: and.

dassanaj: dassana-, N.n.: seeing. It is derived from the verb root das- (to see). Nom.Sg. = dassanaj.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) ma piyehi samagabchi appiyehi kudacanaj (don't associate with the dear ones, and never with those who are unloved). This can be further analysed into two parts:
    a) ma piyehi samagabchi (don't associate with the dear ones). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is samagabchi (associate, 2^nd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle ma (do not). The object is the adjective piyehi (with the dear ones, instrumental plural).
    b) appiyehi kudacanaj (and never with those who are unloved). The subject and verb are omitted, the verb from the first part of the sentence (samagabchi) is also the verb of this segment. It has an attribute, the adverb kudacanaj (always), which is negated by the negative particle ma (not) from the first part of the sentence. The object is the adjective appiyehi (with unloved ones, instrumental plural).
    2) piyanaj adassanaj dukkhaj appiyanaj ca dassanaj (not seeing the dear ones is suffering - and seeing the unloved ones). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) piyanaj adassanaj dukkhaj (not seeing the dear ones is suffering). The subject is the noun adassanaj (not seeing, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective piyanaj (of dear ones, genitive plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the noun dukkhaj (suffering, nominative singular).
    b) appiyanaj ca dassanaj (and seeing the unloved ones). The subject is the noun dassanaj (seeing, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective appiyanaj (of the unloved ones, genitive plural). The verb is omitted; the verb "to be" is implied. The object is the noun dukkhaj from the previous part of the sentence.

    The story of this verse is identical with the one for the previous (DhP 209) and the following (DhP 211) verses.
    Meeting people one does not like is truly suffering. Therefore we should avoid seeing them at all. But what about the ones we love? We suffer when they are away or when they die. So, it is best to avoid meeting them too and rather concentrate on the goal and meditate with strong effort.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ma
piyehi
samagabchi
appiyehi
kudacanaj
piyanaj
adassanaj
dukkhaj
appiyanaj
ca
dassanaj