I tell you this; bless all of you that have come here.
Dig up the root of thirst, like somebody desiring a Usira root would cut off the Birana grass.
Let not Mara break you again and again, like a stream breaks a reed.

taṃ          vo       vadāmi bhaddaṃ    vo   yāvanto   ettha samāgatā
|                |              |            |            |          |            |          |
Pron.n.  Pron.    V.act.in.    N.n.     Pron.  Rel.Adv. Adv.  Adj.m.
Acc.Sg. Acc.Pl. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg. Dat.Pl.      |           |     Nom.Pl.
|                |________|            |______|           |           |______|
|_____________|                          |                |_________|
                                                   |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

taṇhāya mūlaṃ   khaṇatha usīra+attho      va bīraṇaṃ
|                 |             |           |         |          |        |
N.f.         N.n.     V.act.    N.m.  Adj.m.  part.  N.n.
Gen.Sg. Acc.Sg. 2.Pl.imp.     |   Nom.Sg.    |   Acc.Sg.
|__________|            |           |_____|          |        |
         |____________|                |________|_____|
                      |                               |_____|
                      |____________________|

List of Abbreviations

mā     vo      naḷaṃ    va     soto      va   māro       bhañji punappunaṃ
|           |           |          |         |          |        |               |            |
neg.  Pron.    N.m.   part.   N.m.    part.  N.m.      V.act.      Adv.
|      Acc.Pl. Acc.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.aor.      |
|           |           |_____|          |          |        |               |             |
|           |                |________|          |        |               |             |
|           |                         |_________|        |               |             |
|______|___________________|_________|________|             |
           |                                   |                |       |___________|
           |___________________|_________|__________|
                                              |        |____|
                                              |_______|

taṃ: tad-, Pron.: that. Acc.Sg.n. = taṃ.

vo: vayam-, Pron.: you. Acc.Pl. = vo (to you).

vadāmi, V.: [I] say. The verb root is vad- (to say). 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = vadāmi.

bhaddaṃ: bhadda-, N.n.: luck, welfare. Acc.Sg. = bhaddaṃ. The whole phrase "bhaddaṃ vo" is a form of address. It can be translated as "bless you".

vo: vayam-, Pron.: you. Dat.Pl. = vo.

yāvanto, Rel.Adv.: as many as.

ettha: Adv.: here, in this world. 174
Euphonic combination: yāvanto + ettha = yāvantettha.

samāgatā: samāgata-, Adj.: assembled, come together. It is a p.p. of the verb root gam- (to go) with the prefixes ā- (towards) and sam- (together). Nom.Pl. = samāgatā.

List of Abbreviations

taṇhāya: taṇhā-, N.f.: thirst. Gen.Sg. = taṇhāya.

mūlaṃ: mūla-, N.n.: root, ground, foundation. Acc.Sg. = mūlaṃ.

khaṇatha, V.: digs, digs out, uproots. The verb root is khaṇ-. 2.Pl.act.imp. = khaṇatha.

usīrattho: usīrattha-, Adj.: someone desiring a Usira root. It is a compound of:
    usīra-, N.m.: the fragrant root of the Birana grass (see below).
    attha-, N.m.: gain, interest.
Euphonic combination: usīra- + attha- = usīrattha-.
Nom.Sg.m. = usīrattho.

va, part.: as, like.

bīraṇaṃ: bīraṇa-, N.n.: Birana grass, a kind of fragrant grass. Nom.Sg. = bīraṇaṃ.

mā, neg.: not, do not. Used with verbs in imperative and aorist instead of the more usual
negative particle na.

List of Abbreviations

vo: vayam-, Pron.: you. Acc.Pl. = vo.

naḷaṃ: naḷa-, N.m.: reed. Acc.Sg. = naḷaṃ.

va: a contracted form of eva, part.: just, only.

soto: sota-, N.m.: stream. Nom.Sg. = soto.

va, part.: as, like.

māro: māra-, N.m.: Mara, personified death, the Evil One, devil. Nom.Sg. = māro.

bhañji, V.: breaks, destroys. The verb root is bhañj-. 3.Sg.act.aor. = bhañji.

punappunaṃ, Adv.: again and again. It is the word puna, Ind.: again, doubled in intensifying sense. The double -p- is a result of the euphonic combination.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) taṃ vo vadāmi (I tell you this). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the first person singular pronoun. The verb is vadāmi (I say, 1^st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the pronoun vo (to you, accusative plural). The object is the pronoun taṃ (this, accusative singular).
    2) bhaddaṃ vo yāvantettha samāgatā (bless all of you that have come here). This can be analyzed into two segments:
    a) bhaddaṃ vo (bless all of you). The subject is the noun bhaddaṃ (luck, accusative singular). The object is the pronoun vo (to you, dative plural).
    b) yāvantettha samāgatā (that have come here). The subject is the past participle samāgatā (come, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adverb ettha (here). The relative adverb yāvanto (as many as) connects this segment to the previous one.
    3) taṇhāya mūlaṃ khaṇatha usīrattho va bīraṇaṃ (dig up the root of thirst, like somebody desiring a Usira root would cut off the Birana grass). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
    a) taṇhāya mūlaṃ khaṇatha (dig up the root of thirst). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person plural pronoun. The verb is khaṇatha (dig up, second person, plural, active, imperative). The object is the noun mūlaṃ (root, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun taṇhāya (of thirst, genitive singular).
    b) usīrattho va bīraṇaṃ (like somebody desiring a Usira root would cut off the Birana grass). The subject is the compound usīrattho (one desiring a Usira root, nominative singular). The object is the noun bīraṇaṃ (Birana grass, accusative singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    4) mā vo naḷaṃ va soto va māro bhañji punappunaṃ (let not Mara break you again and again, like a stream breaks a reed). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
    a) mā vo māro bhañji punappunaṃ (let not Mara break you again and again). The subject is the noun māro (Mara, nominative singular). The verb is bhañji (break, 3^rd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle mā (let not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb punappunaṃ (again and again). The object is the pronoun vo (you, accusative plural).
    b) naḷaṃ va soto va (like a stream breaks a reed). The subject is the noun soto (stream, nominative singular). The object is the noun nalaṃ (reed, accusative singular). It is stressed by the particle va (just). The second particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    The fishermen in Sāvatthi once caught a beautiful golden fish. They took it to the king who in turn sent it to the Buddha. When the fish opened its mouth, horrible smell spread all around.
    When asked about this, the Buddha replied that this fish as a learned monk named Kapila a long time ago, during the times of the Buddha Kassapa. Kapila was learned, but very conceited. He did not stand any criticism from other monks, whom he looked down upon. As a result, the other monks started to avoid him. At one occasion, Kapila was delivering a discourse, but nobody went to attend. Kapila then started to think that Dharma had no meaning at all. Because of this, he was born as a fish with a foul breath. But because he taught the Dharma to many before he became so sour, he had a beautiful golden body.
    The Buddha then spoke this verse and went on to stress the importance of equally combining theoretical learning with meditation practice.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

taṃ
vo
vadāmi
bhaddaṃ
yāvanto
ettha
samāgatā
taṇhāya
mūlaṃ
khaṇatha
usīrattho
usīra
attho
va
bīraṇaṃ
mā
naḷaṃ
soto
māro
bhañji
punappunaṃ
puna