Whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world
might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit,
all that is not worth one fourth.
Showing respect to those of upright conduct is better.

yaṃ          kiñci   yiṭṭhaṃ  va     hutaṃ  va       loke
|                   |           |         |          |        |          |
Rel.Pron.  Pron.     N.n.   conj.   N.n.   conj.   N.m.
Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.   |     Acc.Sg.   |     Loc.Sg.
|__________|            |_____|          |_____|         |
         |                          |___________|              |
         |                                   |______________|
         |__________________________|
                                |_____________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

saṃvaccharaṃ yajetha puñña+pekkho
|                          |          |            |
N.m.               V.med.  N.n.    Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.          3.Sg.opt.   |      Nom.Sg.
|______________|           |_______|
_______|                               |
      |_____________________|
                       |___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sabbam   pi       taṃ     na    catu+bhāgam       eti
|               |          |         |        |          |              |
Adj.n.    part.  Pron.n. neg. Num.   N.m.    V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg.   |       |     Acc.Sg.  3.Sg.pres.
|________|           |         |       |______|              |
        |__________|         |_______|___________|
                 |                                |____|
                 |____________________|
___________________|

List of Abbreviations

abhivādanā ujju+gatesu   seyyo
|                    |        |           |
N.f.            Adj. Adj.m.  Adj.n.
Nom.Sg.        |   Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg.
|                    |____|            |
|_____________|                |
           |________________|

yaṃ: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Acc.Sg.n.: yaṃ.

kiñci: kiñci-, Pron.: whatever. Acc.Sg.n. = kiñci.

yiṭṭhaṃ: yiṭṭha-, Adj.: sacrificed, given in oblation. It is a p.p. of the verb root yaj- (to sacrifice). As an N.n.: sacrificial gift, oblation. Acc.Sg. = yiṭṭhaṃ.

va, conj.: or. Usually written as vā, here shortened for metrical reasons.

hutaṃ: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). As an N.n.: oblation, sacrificial gift. Acc.Sg. = hutaṃ.

va: see above.

loke: loka-, N.m.: world. Loc.Sg. = loke.

List of Abbreviations

saṃvaccharaṃ: saṃvacchara-, N.m.: year. Acc.Sg. = saṃvaccharaṃ (for a year).

yajetha, V.: should sacrifice. The verb root is yaj-. 3.Sg.med.opt. = yajetha.

puññapekkho: puññapekkha-, Adj.: wishing for merit, desiring merit. It is a compound of:
    puñña-, N.n.: merit, goodness, virtue, meritorious action.
    pekkha-, Adj.: wishing, looking for. It is derived from the verb root ikkh- (to see)
    with the prefix pa- (strengthening).
Nom.Sg.m. = puññapekkho.

sabbam: sabba-, Adj.: all, every. Nom.Sg.n. = sabbam.

pi, part.: also.

taṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Nom.Sg.n.: taṃ.

na, neg.: not.

List of Abbreviations

catubhāgam: catubhāga-, N.m.: one quarter, the fourth part. It is a compound of:
    catur-, Num.: four. The compound form is catu-.
    bhāga-, N.m.: share, part.
Acc.Sg. = catubhāgam.

eti: goes. The verb root is i- (to go). 3.Sg.act.in.pres = eti.

abhivādanā: abhivādanā-, N.f.: salutation, showing respect. It is usually found as N.n. It is derived from the verb root vad- (to speak) with the prefix abhi- (all around). Nom.Sg. = abhivādanā.

ujjugatesu: ujjugata-, Adj.: of an upright conduct. It is a compound of:
    ujju-, Adj.: straight, upright. Also spelled as uju-.
    gata-, Adj.: gone, fig.: conduct. It is a p.p. of the verb gam- (to go).
Loc.Pl.m. = ujjugatesu.

seyyo: seyya-, Adj.: better. Nom.Sg.n. = seyyo.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separated sentences. They are:
    1) yaṃ kiñci yiṭṭhaṃ va hutaṃ va loke saṃvaccharaṃ yajetha puññapekkho sabbam pi taṃ na catubhāgam eti (whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit, all that is not worth one fourth). This can be further subdivided into two sentences:
    a) yaṃ kiñci yiṭṭhaṃ va hutaṃ va loke saṃvaccharaṃ yajetha puññapekkho (whatever sacrifice or oblation in the world might someone sacrifice in a year, looking for merit). The subject is the compound puññapekkho (one who is looking for merit, nominative singular). The verb is yajetha (might sacrifice, 3^rd person, singular, medium, optative). It has an attribute, the noun saṃvaccharaṃ (for a year, accusative singular). There is a double object, yiṭṭhaṃ (sacrifice, accusative singular) and hutaṃ (oblation, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions va (or). This object has an attribute, the phrase yaṃ kiñci (whatever). It consists of the relative pronoun yaṃ (what, accusative singular) and the pronoun kiñci (whatever, accusative singular).
    b) sabbam pi taṃ na catubhāgam eti (all that is not worth one fourth). The subject is the pronoun taṃ (that, nominative singular). It has an attribute, sabbam pi (even all). It consists of the adjective sabbam (all, nominative singular) and the particle pi (also, even). The verb is eti (goes, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound catubhāgam (quarter, accusative singular).
    2) abhivādanā ujjugatesu seyyo (showing respect to those of upright conduct is better). The subject is the noun abhivādanā (respect, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound ujjugatesu (amongst those of upright conduct, locative plural). The object is the adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".

    Venerable Sāriputta once asked his friend, if he was following any beneficial religious practices. His friend, a Brahmin, told him that he was giving many sacrificial offerings and as a result of this he hopes to reach a heavenly world in his future existence. Sāriputta explained to him that in this way he would certainly not reach any heavenly world.
    He then took his friend to the Buddha who taught him the Dharma and told him that giving sacrificial offerings every day does not count one fourth of showing respect to the Arahants.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yaṃ
kiñci
yiṭṭhaṃ
va
hutaṃ
loke
saṃvaccharaṃ
yajetha
puññapekkho
puñña
pekkho
sabbam
pi
taṃ
na
catubhāgam
catu
bhāgam
eti
abhivādanā
ujjugatesu
ujju
gatesu
seyyo