If one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds,
and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself,
then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice.

māse     māse  sahassena    yo        yajetha    sataṃ    samaṃ
|                |            |            |               |             |            |
N.m.      N.m.    Num.n. Rel.Pron.  V.med.   Num.n.   Adj.n.
Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg.  Ins.Sg.  Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.opt.  Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg.
|_________|            |            |               |             |_______|
       |____________|            |               |___________|
                  |_____________|______________|
                                |_____|
                                     |_______________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

ekaṃ      ca  bhāvita+attānaṃ muhuttam api  pūjaye
|               |        |           |              |           |        |
Num.m. conj. Adj.     N.m.       N.m.     part.  V.act.
Acc.Sg.    |        |      Acc.Sg.   Acc.Sg.      |    3.Sg.opt.
|               |        |______|              |______|        |
|________|________|                         |________|
                      |_______________________|
________________________|
                  |__________________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sā          yeva   pūjanā    seyyo        yaṃ        ce  vassa+sataṃ     hutaṃ
|                |          |             |               |            |       |          |            |
Pron.f.    part.    N.f.      Adj.n.   Rel.Pron.n. part. N.n.  Num.n.   Adj.n.
Nom.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.   Nom.Sg.     |       |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_________|_____|              |               |______|        |______|           |
           |___|                        |                    |                    |_________|
              |_______________|                    |________________|
                           |___________________________|
___________________________|

māse: māsa-, N.m.: month. Loc.Sg. = māse.

māse: see above.
The phrase māse māse = every month.

sahassena: sahassa-, N.n.: thousand. Ins.Sg. = sahassena.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

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

sataṃ: sata-, Num.n.: hundred. Acc.Sg. = sataṃ.

samaṃ: sama-, Adj.: same, even. Acc.Sg. = samaṃ.

ekaṃ: eka-, Num.: one. Acc.Sg.m. = ekaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

bhāvit'attānaṃ: bhāvit'attan-, Adj.: having developed oneself. It is a compound of:
    bhāvita-, Adj.: developed. It is a p.p. of the verb bhāveti (to develop, to meditate).
    attan-, N.m.: self, oneself.
Euphonic combination: bhāvita- + attan- = bhāvit'attan-.
Acc.Sg.m. = bhāvit'attānaṃ.

muhuttam: muhutta-, N.m.: a moment, a second. Acc.Sg. = muhuttam: for a moment.

api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).

pūjaye, V.: should worship, should pay respects to. The verb root is pūj- (to worship).
3.Sg.act.opt. = pūjaye.

sā: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.f. = sā.

yeva, part.: just, only. It is more often spelled as eva.

List of Abbreviations

pūjanā: pūjanā-, N.f.: worship, devotion. It is derived from the verb root pūj- (to worship).
Nom.Sg. = pūjanā.

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

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

ce, part.: if.

vassasataṃ: vassasata-, N.n.: hundred years, century. It is a compound of:
    vassa-, N.n.: year.
    sata-, Num.n.: hundred.
Nom.Sg. = vassasataṃ.

hutaṃ: huta-, Adj.: sacrificed. It is a p.p. of the verb root hu- (to sacrifice). Nom.Sg.n. = hutaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two sentences. They are:
    1) māse māse sahassena yo yajetha sataṃ samaṃ ekaṃ ca bhāvit'attānaṃ muhuttam api pūjaye (if one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds, and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). This can be further subdivided into two segments:
    a) māse māse sahassena yo yajetha sataṃ samaṃ (if one should sacrifice every month thousand times even by hundreds). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is yajetha (should sacrifice, 3^rd person, singular, medium, optative). It has two main attributes: I) sahassena (by thousand, instrumental singular) with its double attribute māse māse (every month, locative singular) and II) sataṃ (hundred, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective samaṃ (even, accusative singular).
    b) ekaṃ ca bhāvit'attānaṃ muhuttam api pūjaye (and if one should even for a moment pay respects to somebody, who has developed himself). The subject is still the word yo from the previous sentence. The object is the compound bhāvit'attānaṃ (one who has developd himself, accusative singular) with its attribute, the numeral ekaṃ (one, accusative singular). The verb is pūjaye (should pay respects, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attribute, the word muhuttam (for a moment, accusative singular) with its attribute, the particle api (also, just). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes, but it also connects this sentence to the previous one.
    2) sā yeva pūjanā seyyo yaṃ ce vassasataṃ hutaṃ (then such a devotion is better than hundred years of sacrifice). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
    a) sā yeva pūjanā seyyo (such a devotion is better). The subject is double, the pronoun sā (she, nominative singular) and pūjanā (devotion, nominative singular). They are stressed by the particle yeva (just). The adjective seyyo (better, nominative singular) is an object of this sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
    b) yaṃ ce vassasataṃ hutaṃ (than hundred years of sacrifice). The subject is the compound vassasataṃ (century, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle hutaṃ (sacrificed, nominative singular). The relative pronoun yaṃ (that, what; nominative singular) and the particle ce (if) form two parts of the phrase yaṃ ce (than). The verb is again omitted, as above implying the verb "to be".

    Venerable Sāriputta once asked his uncle if he was doing any good deeds. His uncle (who was a Brahmin) replied that every month he was making offerings to ascetics, hoping to be reborn in the heavenly world in the future existence. Sāriputta assured him that the ascetics did not really know the way to the heavenly world. He then took him to the Buddha who explained the Dharma to him and added that to pay respects to an Arahant is far better than to make offerings to somebody who is not really worth it.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

māse
sahassena
yo
yajetha
sataṃ
samaṃ
ekaṃ
ca
bhāvit'attānaṃ
bhāvita
attānaṃ
muhuttam
api
pūjaye
sā
yeva
pūjanā
seyyo
yaṃ
ce
vassasataṃ
vassa
hutaṃ