Don't practice inferior teachings; don't connect with negligence.
Don't embrace wrong beliefs; don't be attached to the world.

hīnaṃ dhammaṃ na  seveyya pamādena na   saṃvase
|                |           |         |            |           |          |
Adj.m.    N.m.    neg.  V.act.     N.m.     neg.   V.act.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.     |   3.Sg.opt. Ins.Sg.      |    3.Sg.opt.
|_________|           |_____|            |           |______|
        |______________|                |__________|

List of Abbreviations

micchā+diṭṭhiṃ  na   seveyya  na     siyā    loka+vaḍḍhano
|                  |       |         |         |          |         |           |
Adv.         N.f.  neg.  V.act.   neg.  V.act.   N.m.  Adj.m.
|            Acc.Sg.  |    3.Sg.opt.  |    3.Sg.opt.   |     Nom.Sg.
|__________|       |_____|         |______|         |______|
       |_____________|                   |____________|

hīnaṃ: hīna-, Adj.: poor, inferior. It is p.p. of the verb hā- (to reject). Acc.Sg.m. = hīnaṃ.

dhammaṃ: dhamma-, N.m.: here not as the Dharma (Buddha's Teaching), but rather in a more general meaning: teaching, way. Acc.Sg. = dhammaṃ.

na, neg.: not.

seveyya, V.: associate with, practice, embrace. The verb root is sev-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = seveyya.

pamādena: pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Ins.Sg. = pamādena.

List of Abbreviations

na: see above.

saṃvase, V.: associate or connect with. The verb root is vas- (to live) with the prefix saṃ- (together). 3.Sg.act.opt. = saṃvase.

micchādiṭṭhiṃ: micchādiṭṭhi-, N.f.: wrong belief. It is a compound of:
    micchā, Adv.: wrongly, badly.
    diṭṭhi-, N.f.: view, belief, theory, idea. It is derived from the verb root dis- (to see).
Acc.Sg. = micchādiṭṭhiṃ.

List of Abbreviations

na: see above.

seveyya: see above.

na: see above.

siyā, V.: would be. The verb root is as-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = siyā.

lokavaḍḍhano: lokavaḍḍhana-, Adj.: indulgence in the world, attachment to the world. It is a compound of:
    loka-, N.m.: world.
    vaḍḍhana-, N.n.: indulgence, attachment. The verb root is vaḍḍh- (to grow).
Nom.Sg.m. = lokavaḍḍhano.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) hīnaṃ dhammaṃ na seveyya (don't practice inferior teachings, lit.: one should not practice inferior teachings). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is seveyya (one should practice, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun dhammaṃ (teaching, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective hīnaṃ (inferior, accusative singular).
    2) pamādena na saṃvase (don't connect with negligence, lit.: one should not connect with negligence). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is saṃvase (one should associate, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). It also has an attribute, the noun pamādena (with negligence, instrumental singular).
    3) micchādiṭṭhiṃ na seveyya (don't embrace wrong beliefs, lit.: one should not embrace wrong beliefs). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is seveyya (one should practice, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound micchādiṭṭhiṃ (wrong belief, accusative singular).
    4) na siyā lokavaḍḍhano (don't be attached to the world, lit.: one should not be attached to the world). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is siyā (one should be, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound lokavaḍḍhano (attached to the world, nominative singular).

    Visākhā was a very famous benefactress of the Buddhist Community from Sāvatthi. Once an older monks with his young pupil came to her house for almsfood. Visākhā's granddaughter was filtering water for the young monk and when she saw her reflection on the surface of the water, she laughed. The young monk also laughed. The girl got angry and said, "You shaven head, why do you laugh at me?!" The monk did not like it and replied, "You and your family are shaven heads yourself!" The girl went weeping to Visākhā. Visākhā tried to appease both the girl and the monk but the monk was angry and did not accept her explanations and apologies. The older monk also tried his best but did not succeed either.
    The matter was brought to the Buddha, who saw that the monk was ready to reach the first stage of Awakenment. So he asked Visākhā, "Why did your granddaughter had to address my monk as a shaven head? All the monks had to shave their heads when they became members of the Community!" The young monk felt very happy and praised the Buddha that he was the only one who could understand him. The Buddha then replied with this verse, saying that the monk was also to blame; he should not quarrel because of such a small and unimportant thing. Hearing that, the young monk reached the first stage of Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

hīnaṃ
dhammaṃ
na
seveyya
pamādena
saṃvase
micchādiṭṭhiṃ
micchā
diṭṭhiṃ
siyā
lokavaḍḍhano
loka
vaḍḍhano