Fields are ruined by weeds. This mankind is ruined by passions.
Therefore, what is given to those devoid of passions brings much fruit.

tiṇa+dosāni   khettāni   rāga+dosā       ayaṃ       pajā
|           |             |           |         |             |              |
N.n. Adj.n.      N.n.     N.m. Adj.f.     Pron.f.      N.f.
|      Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl.     |   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.
|______|             |           |_____|             |________|
      |__________|                 |______________|

List of Abbreviations

tasmā     hi   vīta+rāgesu  dinnaṃ       hoti    maha+pphalaṃ
|              |       |        |            |              |           |           |
Pron.    part. Adj. Adj.m.   Adj.n.    V.act.in.  Adj.   Adj.n.
Abl.Sg.    |       |    Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.   |     Nom.Sg.
|________|       |____|            |               |           |______|
       |                   |_________|               |_________|
       |                           |__________________|
       |________________________|

tiṇadosāni: tiṇadosa-, Adj.: ruined by weeds. It is a compound of:
    tiṇa-, N.n.: grass, weed.
    dosa-, N.m.: corruption, fault.
Nom.Pl.n. = tiṇadosāni.

khettāni: khetta-, N.n.: field. Nom.Pl. = khettāni.

rāgadosā: rāgadosa-, Adj.: ruined by passions. It is a compound of:
    rāga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color).
    dosa-, N.m.; see above.
Nom.Sg.f. = rāgadosā.

ayaṃ: idaṃ-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.f. = ayaṃ.

pajā: pajā-, N.f.: beings, people, mankind. Nom.Sg. = pajā.

tasmā: tad-, Pron.: that. Abl.Sg. = tasmā (therefore, lit. "from that").

List of Abbreviations

hi, part.: indeed.

vītarāgesu: vītarāga-, Adj.: whose passions are gone, devoid of passion. It is a compound of:
    vīta-, Adj.: gone. It is a p.p. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix vi- (away).
    rāga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color).
Loc.Plm. = vītarāgesu.

dinnaṃ: dinna-, Adj.: given. It is a p.p. of the verb root dā- (to give). Nom.Sg.n. = dinnaṃ.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

mahapphalaṃ: mahapphala-, Adj.: bearing much fruit. It is a compound of:
    mahant-, Adj.: big, great, much. The compound form used here: maha-.
    phala-, N.n.: fruit.
Euphonic combination: maha- + phala- = mahapphala-.
Nom.Sg.n. = mahapphalaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) tiṇadosāni khettāni (fields are ruined by weeds). The subject is the noun khettāni (fields, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound tiṇadosāni (ruined by weeds, nominative plural).
    2) rāgadosā ayaṃ pajā (this mankind is ruined by passions). The subject is the noun pajā (mankind, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun ayaṃ (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound rāgadosā (ruined by passions, nominative singular).
    3) tasmā hi vītarāgesu dinnaṃ hoti mahapphalaṃ (therefore, what is given to those devoid of passions brings much fruit). The subject is the past participle dinnaṃ (given, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound vītarāgesu (to those devoid of passions, locative plural). The verb is hoti (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound mahapphalaṃ (of great fruit, nominative singular). The sentence is introduced by the pronoun tasmā (therefore, "from that", ablative singular). It is stressed by the particle hi (indeed).

When the Buddha's mother died, she became a goddess named Santusitā in the Tāvatimsa heaven. When the Buddha attained the Awakenment, he went there to teach her the Dharma. While he was there, he also met two other gods. One of them, Indaka, was a man in his previous existence, who once offered a little almsfood to Venerable Anuruddha, the Buddha's disciple. The other god, Ankura, had given much almsfood in his lifetime as a human being, but none of the almsfood was to truly Awakened people. Ankura asked the Buddha how was it possible, that he had given so much and still was reborn in the same heaven as Indaka, who gave almsfood only once. The Buddha then replied with this verse (and three following ones, DhP 357, DhP 358 and DhP 359), saying that quality is more important than quantity.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

tiṇadosāni
tiṇa
dosāni
khettāni
rāgadosā
rāga
dosā
ayaṃ
pajā
tasmā
hi
vītarāgesu
vīta
rāgesu
dinnaṃ
hoti
mahapphalaṃ
maha
phalaṃ