Health is the highest gain. Contentment is the highest wealth.
Trusted people are the best relatives. Nirvana is the highest happiness.

ārogya+paramā    lābhā santuṭṭhi+paramaṃ  dhanaṃ
|                |             |           |             |               |
N.n.      Adj.m.     N.m.    N.f.       Adj.n.       N.n.
|           Nom.Pl.  Nom.Pl.    |       Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.
|_________|             |           |_______|               |
        |____________|                  |____________|

List of Abbreviations

vissāsa+paramā    ñātī   nibbānaṃ paramaṃ  sukhaṃ
|                |            |             |              |              |
N.m.    Adj.m.     N.m.      N.n.       Adj.n        N.n.
|          Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl. Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.
|_________|            |             |              |________|
         |___________|             |____________|

ārogyaparamā: ārogyaparama-, Adj.: having health as the highest. It is a compound of:
   ārogya-, N.n.: health, absence of illness.
     parama-, Adj.: most, highest, absolute.
Nom.Pl.m. = ārogyaparamā.

lābhā: lābha-, N.m.: gain, possession. Nom.Pl. = lābhā.

santuṭṭhiparamaṃ: santuṭṭhiparama-, Adj.: having contentment as the highest. It is a compound of:
    santuṭṭhi-, N.f.: satisfaction, contentment.
    parama-, Adj.: see above.
Nom.Sg.n. = santuṭṭhiparamaṃ.

dhanaṃ: dhana-, N.n.: wealth. Nom.Sg. = dhanaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

vissāsāparamā: vissāsaparama-, Adj.: having trusted people as the highest. It is a compound of:
    vissāsa-, N.m.: trust, confidence. Here as "a trusted person".
    paramā-, Adj: see above.
Nom.Pl.m. = vissāsaparamā.

ñātī: ñāti-, N.m.: relative. Nom.Pl. = ñātī.

nibbānaṃ: nibbāna-, N.n.: Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism. Nom.Sg. = nibbānaṃ.

paramaṃ: parama-, Adj.: see above. Nom.Sg.n. = paramaṃ.

sukhaṃ: sukha-, N.n.: happiness. Nom.Sg. = sukhaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically independent sentences. They are:
    1) ārogyaparamā lābhā (health is the highest gain). The subject is the noun lābhā (gains, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound ārogyaparamā (having health as the highest, nominative plural).
    2) santuṭṭhiparamaṃ dhanaṃ (contentment is the highest wealth). The subject is the noun dhanaṃ (wealth, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound santuṭṭhiparamaṃ (having contentment as the highest, nominative singular).
    3) vissāsaparamā ñātī (trusted people are the best relatives). The subject is the noun ñātī (relatives, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound vissāsaparamā (having trusted people as the highest, nominative plural).
    4) nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ (Nirvana is the highest happiness). The subject is the noun nibbānaṃ (Nirvana, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the noun sukhaṃ (happiness, nominative singular) with its attribute, the adjective paramaṃ (highest, nominative singular).

    The King Pasenadi of Kosala once came to the monastery to hear the Dharma. But on that day he ate too much and as a result he was sleepy, did not pay much attention and was only sitting there and nodding.
    Seeing him, the Buddha advised him not to overeat, because moderation in food brings comfort to the body. Pasenadi did as he was told and after a time he lost some weight, was more fit and began to feel much better.
    The Buddha then told him this verse, saying that health is the greatest gain and we should do everything to attain it.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ārogyaparamā
ārogya
paramā
lābhā
santuṭṭhiparamaṃ
santuṭṭhi
paramaṃ
dhanaṃ
vissāsaparamā
vissāsa
ñātī
nibbānaṃ
sukhaṃ