If someone holds oneself dear, let him guard himself very well.
In any of the three watches of the night let the wise one be watchful.

attānaṃ ce    piyaṃ    jaññā  rakkheyya  naṃ surakkhitaṃ
|             |         |            |             |            |            |
N.m.    part. Adj.m.   V.act.     V.act.   Pron.m. Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.  |    Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|_______|_____|            |              |           |_______|
             |   |__________|              |__________|
             |_______|                                |
                   |______________________|

List of Abbreviations

tiṇṇaṃ aññataraṃ yāmaṃ  paṭijaggeyya paṇḍito
|                |               |               |              |
Num.    Adj.m.       N.m.       V.act.       N.m.
Gen.Pl. Acc.Sg.    Acc.Sg.   3.Sg.opt.   Nom.Sg.
|_________|               |               |              |
        |_____________|               |              |
                    |_______________|              |
                                 |________________|

attānaṃ: attan-, N.m.: self, oneself. Acc.Sg. = attānaṃ.

ce, part.: if.

piyaṃ: piya-, Adj.: dear, beloved, pleasant. Acc.Sg.m. = piyaṃ.

jaññā, V.: should know. The verb root is ñā- (to know). 3.Sg.act.opt. = jaññā.

rakkheyya, V.: should protect. The verb root is rakh- (to protect). 3.Sg.act.opt. = rakkheyya.

naṃ: ena-, pron. In Pali used only in Acc.Sg.m.: naṃ (him).

surakkhitaṃ: surakkhita-, Adj.: well guarded, protected. It is the word rakkhita-, Adj.: protected (the verb root is rakh-, to protect) with the prefix su- (well, good). Acc.Sg.m. = surakkhitaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

tiṇṇaṃ: ti-, Num.: three. Gen.Pl. = tiṇṇaṃ.

aññataraṃ: aññatara-, Pron./Adj.: one of a number, any. Acc.Sg.m. = aññataraṃ.

yāmaṃ: yāma-, N.m.: a watch of the night, an old Indian measure of time. There are three watches during the night. Acc.Sg. = yāmaṃ.

paṭijaggeyya, V.: should watch over, look after, be watchful. The verb root is jagg- (to watch, to be awake) with the prefix paṭi- (to, at). 3.Sg.act.opt. = paṭijaggeyya.

paṇḍito: paṇḍita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = paṇḍito.

List of Abbreviations

    This sentence consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) attānaṃ ce piyaṃ jaññā rakkheyya naṃ surakkhitaṃ (if someone holds oneself dear, let him guard himself very well). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) attānaṃ ce piyaṃ jaññā (if someone holds oneself dear). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is jaññā (should know, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun attānaṃ (oneself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective piyaṃ (dear, accusative singular). The sentence is modified by the particle ce (if) which connects it to the other segment.
    b) rakkheyya naṃ surakkhitaṃ (let him guard himself very well). Again, the subject is omitted and the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is rakkheyya (should guard, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the pronoun naṃ (it, him; accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective surakkhitaṃ (well-guarded, accusative singular).
    2) tiṇṇaṃ aññataraṃ yāmaṃ paṭijaggeyya paṇḍito (in any of the three watches of the night let the wise one be watchful). The subject is the noun paṇḍito (wise one, nominative singular). The verb is paṭijaggeyya (should be watchful, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the noun yāmaṃ (watch of the night, accusative singular). This word in has the adjective aññataraṃ (any, accusative singular) as an attribute. And the numeral tiṇṇaṃ (of three, genitive plural) forms an attribute to this word.

    There was a prince named Bodhirāja. He had built a new palace and invited the Buddha with monks for alms offering. Because the prince had no children, he spread some pieces of cloth on the floor and made a wish that if the Buddha stepped on the cloth, he and his wife would be able to have children.
    When the Buddha came, he asked Bodhirāja to remove the cloth. He told him he and his wife could not have children because of evil deeds they committed in the past. The Buddha then related the story to the prince.
    He and his wife had been the only survivors of a shipwreck in one of their past existences. They were stranded on an island and ate the birds. They also ate their eggs and small fledglings. They did not even feel a slightest remorse for killing some other living creatures' babies. Because of that, they would not able to have any children in this life.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attānaṃ
ce
piyaṃ
jaññā
rakkheyya
naṃ
surakkhitaṃ
tiṇṇaṃ
aññataraṃ
yāmaṃ
paṭijaggeyya
paṇḍito