Who is of extremely bad morality, like a creeper spread over a Sala tree,
he will do unto himself, what an enemy wishes to do unto him.

yassa     accanta+dussīlyaṃ māluvā   sālam    iva  otthataṃ
|                 |              |             |            |          |          |
Rel.Pron. Adj.         N.n.       N.f.       N.m.   part.   Adj.n.
Gen.Sg.      |         Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.   |     Nom.Sg.
|                 |________|             |            |_____|______|
|_____________|                      |_________|     |
            |                                         |________|
            |___________________________|________________________________

List of Abbreviations

karoti           so      tathā attānaṃ yathā       naṃ      icchati       diso
|                    |           |         |           |             |             |              |
V.act.in.    Pron.m. Adv.   N.m.  Rel.Adv. Pron.m. V.act.in.     N.m.
3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.    |    Acc.Sg.     |         Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Nom.Sg.
|___________|______|_____|           |              |_______|              |
            |____|           |                     |                     |___________|
                |________|                     |__________________|
                       |________________________|
________________________|

yassa: yat-, Rel.Pron.: that, which. Gen.Sg.m. = yassa (whose).

accantadussīlyaṃ: accantadussīlya-, N.n.: extremely bad morality. It is a compound of:
    accanta-, Adj.: extreme, complete, thorough, absolute.
    dussīlya-, N.n.: bad conduct, behavior, character. It is the word sīlya-, N.n.: conduct, behavior, character, with a prefix du- (bad). Euphonic combination: du- + sīlya- = dussīlya-.
Nom.Sg. = accantadussīlyaṃ.

māluvā: māluvā-, N.f.: creper. Nom.Sg. = māluvā.

sālam: sāla-, N.m.: a Sala tree, a kind of tree. Acc.Sg. = sālam.

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).

otthataṃ: otthata-, Adj.: spread over, strewn over. It is a p.p. of the verb root thar- (or ṭhar-; to spread) with the prefix ava- (over). We would expect the Nom.Sg.f. (otthatā) here, but the Nom.Sg.n. (otthataṃ) is used instead, because of metrical reasons.
Euphonic combination: iva + otthataṃ = iv'otthataṃ.

List of Abbreviations

karoti, V,: do. The verb root kar-. 3.Sg.in.act.pres. = karoti.

so: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = so.

tathā, Adv. thus, in such way.

attānaṃ: attan-, N.m.: self, oneself. Acc.Sg. = attānaṃ.
Euphonic combination: tathā + attānaṃ = tath'attānaṃ.

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

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

icchati, V.: wants. The verb root is is-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = icchati.

diso: disa-, N.m.: enemy. Nom.Sg. = diso.

List of Abbreviations

    The main sentence is in the second line. It runs:
    karoti so tath'attānaṃ yathā naṃ icchati diso (he will do to himself, what an enemy wishes [to do unto] him). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    1) karoti so tath'attānaṃ (he will do to himself). The subject is the pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is karoti (does, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun attānaṃ (to himself, accusative singular). The adverb tathā (thus, in such way) introduces the sentence and connects it to the following segment.
    2) yathā naṃ icchati diso (what an enemy wishes [to do unto] him). The subject is the noun diso (enemy, nominative singular). The verb is icchati (wants, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the pronoun naṃ (him, accusative singular). The relative adverb yathā (as, in what way) introduces the sentence and connects it to the preceding segment.
    In the first line, there are two clauses. They are:
    a) yassa accantadussīlyaṃ (who is of extremely bad morality). The subject is the compound noun accantadussīlyaṃ (extreme bad morality, nominative singular). The relative pronoun yassa (whose, genitive singular) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    b) māluvā sālam iv'otthataṃ (like a creeper spread over a Sala tree). The subject is the noun māluvā (creeper, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle otthataṃ (spread over, nominative singular; as we said, the feminine form otthatā would be expected here). This past participle also fulfills the role of a verb. The object is the noun sālam (on a Sala tree, accusative singular). The particle iva (like, as) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    Some monks were discussing the subject of Devadatta, the Buddha's cousin, amongst themselves. They summed up all his bad actions: he got the confidence of prince Ajātasattu by unfair means, thus trying to gain fame. He instigated the prince to kill his own father, king Bimbisāra and to become the king himself. Devadatta even tried to kill the Buddha for three times.
    The monks reported the matter to the Buddha and added that Devadatta was a man without shame and morality. The Buddha then said that Devadatta was trying to kill him in many if the past lives. The Buddha spoke this verse, saying that immoral people will destroy themselves - just like a creeper strangles the tree on which it is spread.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

yassa
accantadussīlyaṃ
accanta
dussīlyaṃ
māluvā
sālam
iva
otthataṃ
karoti
so
tathā
attānaṃ
yathā
naṃ
icchati
diso