Should a person do evil, let him not do it again and again.
One should not wish for it. Accumulation of evil is painful.

pāpaṃ  ce     puriso     kayirā    na     naṃ      kayirā punappunaṃ
|             |          |              |         |         |             |             |
N.n.     part.   N.m.      V.act.   neg.  Pron.n.   V.act.     Adv.
Acc.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.   |     Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.      |
|              |_____|________|         |_____|_______|             |
|                |____|                                 |      |___________|
|___________|                                     |_________|
         |_______________________________|

List of Abbreviations

na           tamhi   chandaṃ kayirātha dukkho  pāpassa uccayo
|                  |             |            |             |              |           |
neg.        Pron.n.    N.m.   V.med.     Adj.m.     N.n.      N.m.
|             Loc.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.   Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|                  |_______|            |              |              |______|
|______________|__________|              |___________|
                  |____|

pāpaṃ: pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Acc.Sg. = pāpaṃ.

ce, part.: if.

puriso: purisa-, N.m.: person. Nom.Sg. = puriso.

kayirā, V.: would do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.act.opt. = kayirā.

na, neg.: not.

naṃ: ena-, Pron.: it. In Pali used only in Acc.Sg.m.: naṃ (him).

kayirā: see above.

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

na: see above.

tamhi: tad-, Pron.: that. Loc.Sg.n. = tamhi.

chandaṃ: chanda-, N.m.: wish, desire, intention. Acc.Sg. = chandaṃ.

kayirātha, V.: should do. The verb root is kar- (to do). 3.Sg.med.opt. = kayirātha.

dukkho: dukkha-, Adj.: painful, unpleasant, causing suffering. Nom.Sg.m. = dukkho.

pāpassa: pāpa-, N.n.: see above. Gen.Sg. = pāpassa.

uccayo: uccaya-, N.m.: heaping up, accumulation. It is derived from the verb root ci- (to collect) with the prefix ud- (up). Nom.Sg. = uccayo.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse contains three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) pāpaṃ ce puriso kayirā na naṃ kayirā punappunaṃ (should a person do evil, let him not do it again and again). This can be further subdivided into two parts:
    a) pāpaṃ ce puriso kayirā (should a person do evil). The subject is the noun puriso (person, nominative singular). The verb is kayirā (should do, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is modified by the particle ce (if). The object is the noun pāpaṃ (evil, accusative singular).
    b) na naṃ kayirā punappunaṃ (let him not do it again and again). The subject is omitted; the word puriso from the first sentence is implied. The verb is kayirā (should do, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The adverb punappunaṃ (again and again) forms an attribute to the verb. The object is the pronoun naṃ (it, accusative singular).
    2) na tamhi chandaṃ kayirātha (one should not wish for it, lit.: one should not make a wish in it). As above, the subject is omitted, implying the noun puriso from the first sentence. The verb is kayirātha (should do, 3^rd person, singular, medium, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun chandaṃ (wish, accusative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun tamhi (in it, locative singular).
    3) dukkho pāpassa uccayo (accumulation of evil is painful). The subject is the noun uccayo (accumulation, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun pāpassa (of evil, genitive singular). The object is the adjective dukkho (painful, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".

    There was a monk named Seyyasaka. He was not satisfied with his life as a monk. He had a habit of masturbating. When the Buddha heard about this, he admonished the monk for giving in to his desire for sensual pleasures. He made a new rule for the community of monks and nuns to abstain from such acts. He then added this verse, saying that one should not perform evil again and again, because such behavior leads to much suffering.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pāpaṃ
ce
puriso
kayirā
na
naṃ
punappunaṃ
puna
tamhi
chandaṃ
kayirātha
dukkho
pāpassa
uccayo