Like a merchant with a small caravan and a lot of money would avoid a dreadful path,
like someone who wants to live would avoid a poison, so should one avoid evil.

vāṇijo    va   bhayaṃ maggaṃ appa+sattho  maha+ddhano
|              |          |           |           |        |           |         |
N.m.     part.  Adj.m.   N.m.    Adj.   N.m.    Adj.   N.m.
Nom.Sg.  |     Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.     |   Nom.Sg.    |   Nom.Sg.
|              |          |______|            |____|            |_____|
|________|________|_____________|___________|
               |               |______|
               |___________|
                         |____________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

visaṃ   jīvitu+kāmo     va   pāpāni parivajjaye
|               |        |           |         |            |
N.n.     V.inf.  N.m.    part.   N.n.     V.act.
Acc.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.   |    Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|               |____|            |         |            |
|___________|               |         |            |
          |______________|         |            |
____________|_____________|_______|
                                |_______|

vāṇijo: vāṇija-, N.m.: merchant, trader. Nom.Sg. = vāṇijo.

va, part.: as, like.

bhayaṃ: bhaya-, N.n.: fear, dread. As an Adj.: dreadful, frightful. Acc.Sg.m. = bhayaṃ.

maggaṃ: magga-, N.m.: road, path. Acc.Sg. = maggaṃ.

appasattho: appasattha-, Adj.: having a small caravan. It is a compound of:
    appa-, Adj.: few, little.
    sattha-, N.m.: caravan.
Nom.Sg.m. = appasattho.

mahaddhano: mahaddhana-, Adj.: having much money. It is a compound of:
    mahant-, Adj.: big, great, much. The compound form used here: maha-.
    dhana-, N.n.: wealth, money.
    Euphonic combination: maha- + dhana- = mahaddhana-.
Nom.Sg.m. = mahaddhano.

List of Abbreviations

visaṃ: visa-, N.n.: poison. Acc.Sg. = visaṃ.

jīvitukāmo: jīvitukāma-, Adj.: one who wishes to live. It is a compound of:
    jīvituṃ, V.inf.: to live. It is an infinitive of the verb root jīv- (to live). The compound form: jīvitu-.
    kāma-, N.m.: wish, desire.
Nom.Sg.m. = jīvitukāmo.

va, part.: as, like.

pāpāni: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Nom.Pl. = pāpāni.

parivajjaye, V.: should avoid, should keep away from. The verb root is vajj- (to avoid) with the prefix pari- (all around). 3.Sg.act.opt. = parivajjaye.

List of Abbreviations

    The main sentence in this verse is pāpāni parivajjaye (one should avoid evil). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is parivajjaye (one should avoid, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is pāpāni (evils, accusative plural). There are two clauses to this sentence:
    1) vāṇijo va bhayaṃ maggaṃ appasattho mahaddhano (like a merchant with a small caravan and a lot of money would avoid a dreadful path). The subject of this sentence is the noun vāṇijo (merchant, nominative singular). It has two attributes, the compounds appasattho (with a small caravan, nominative singular) and mahaddhano (with a lot of money, nominative singular). The verb is omitted; parivajjaye from the main sentence is implied. The object is the noun maggaṃ (path, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun/adjective bhayaṃ (dreadful, accusative singular). The particle va (like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    2) visaṃ jīvitukāmo va (like someone who wants to live would avoid a poison). The subject is the compound jīvitukāmo (one who wishes to live, nominative singular). The verb is again omitted; as before, the verb parivajjaye from the main sentence is implied. The object is the noun visaṃ (poison, accusative singular). The particle va (like) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    In Sāvatthi there lived a rich merchant named Mahā Dhana. A group of robbers wanted to rob him. Mahā Dhana decided to make a journey with a lot of valuable merchandise. He invited some monks who wanted to go on the same journey to go with him. The robbers hid themselves in a forest and waited for Mahā Dhana's caravan. But Mahā Dhana found out about their plan and decided to stop just in front of the forest and wait for the robbers to leave. When they did not do so, Mahā Dhana decided to go back home. The robbers found out and planned to attack him on the return journey. Some people told Mahā Dhana about this and so he stopped in the village and stayed there for some time.
    The monks returned back to Sāvatthi and told the Buddha what happened. Buddha told them this verse, saying, that a merchant is wise to keep away from the journey full of robbers. Also one who wants to live better keep away from poison. And those, who want to attain Awakenment, should avoid evil.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

vāṇijo
va
bhayaṃ
maggaṃ
appasattho
appa
sattho
mahaddhano
maha
dhano
visaṃ
jīvitukāmo
jīvitu
kāmo
pāpāni
parivajjaye