O Atula, this is an old thing; it is not just today.
They blame one who is sitting silently; they blame one who is speaking a lot.
They blame also the one who is speaking moderately. There is nobody blameless in the world.

porāṇam   etaṃ      atula    na    etaṃ    ajjatanām  iva
|                  |             |        |         |              |           |
Adj.n.     Pron.n.    N.m.   neg. Pron.n.    Adj.n.   part.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Voc.Sg.  |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.    |
|__________|             |        |_____|              |______|
        |_____________|             |______________|

List of Abbreviations

nindanti tuṇhim āsīnaṃ nindanti  bahu+bhāṇinaṃ
|                |          |             |           |           |
V.act.in.  Adv.  Adj.m.  V.act.in.  Adj.    Adj.m.
3.Pl.pres.   |     Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres.    |      Acc.Sg.
|                |______|            |           |______|
|____________|                  |_________|

List of Abbreviations

mita+bhāṇim  pi    nindanti    na     atthi        loke    anindito
|            |         |          |           |          |             |            |
Adj. Adj.m.  conj. V.act.in.  neg.  V.act.in.    N.m.    Adj.m.
|      Acc.Sg.    |     3.Pl.pres.   |    3.Sg.pres. Loc.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|_______|        |           |          |______|             |            |
       |________|           |                |__________|            |
               |__________|                         |____________|

porāṇam: porāṇa-, Adj.: ancient, belonging to old times. Nom.Sg.n. = porāṇam.

etaṃ: etad-, Pron.: this. Neuter: etaṃ. Nom.Sg. = etaṃ.

atula: atula-, N.m.: personal name. Voc.Sg. = atula.

na, neg.: not.

etaṃ: see above.
Euphonic combination: na + etaṃ = netaṃ.

ajjatanām: ajjatana-, Adj.: present, modern, today's. Nom.Sg.n. = ajjatanam. The form ajjatanām is used because of metrical requirements.

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va). Here used instead of the particle eva (just, only).

List of Abbreviations

nindanti, V.: blame. The verb root is nind-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = nindanti.

tuṇhim, Adv.Ind.: silently, without words.

āsīnaṃ: āsīna-, Adj.: sitting. It is a p.p. of the verb ās- (to sit). Acc.Sg.m. = āsīnaṃ.

nindanti: see above.

bahubhāṇinaṃ: bahubhāṇin-, Adj.: speaking much, speaking a lot. It is a compound of:
    bahu-, Adj.: large, much, very.
    bhāṇin-, Adj.: speaking. It is derived from the verb root bhaṇ-, with the possessive suffix -in.
Acc.Sg.m. = bahubhāṇinaṃ.

mitabhāṇim: mitabhāṇin-, Adj.: speaking moderately. It is a compound of:
    mita-, Adj: measured, moderate. It is a p.p. of the verb root mā- (to measure).
    bhāṇin-, Adj.: see above.
Acc.Sg.m. = mitabhāṇim. (See above to note that there are two possible forms of the Acc.Sg.)

List of Abbreviations

pi, conj.: also.

nindanti: see above.

na, neg.: not.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

loke: loka-, N.m.: world. Loc.Sg. = loke.

anindito: anindita-, Adj.: blameless, not being blamed. It is a p.p. of the verb root nind- (to blame) with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg.m. = anindito.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of six syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) porāṇam etaṃ atula (o Atula, this is an old thing). The subject is the pronoun etaṃ (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective porāṇam (of old, nominative singular). The sentence is introduced by the noun atula (o, Atula; vocative singular), addressing the person present.
    2) netaṃ ajjatanām iva (it is not just today). The subject is the pronoun etaṃ (this, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective ajjatanām (of today, nominative singular). It is further stressed by the particle iva (like; here instead of the particle eva, just).
    3) nindanti tuṇhim āsīnaṃ (they blame one who is sitting silently). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the past participle āsīnaṃ (sitting, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adverb tuṇhim (silently).
    4) nindanti bahubhāṇinaṃ (they blame one who is speaking a lot). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound bahubhāṇinaṃ (one who is speaking a lot, accusative singular).
    5) mitabhāṇim pi nindanti (they blame also the one who is speaking moderately). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person plural pronoun. The verb is nindanti (they blame, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound mitabhāṇim (the one who is speaking moderately, accusative singular). It is further stressed by the conjunction pi (also).
    6) natthi loke anindito (there is nobody blameless in the world). The subject is the adjective anindito (blameless, nominative singular). The verb is atthi (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun loke (in the world, locative singular).

    There was a man named Atula. Once he and his friends wanted to hear the Dharma. They went to see Venerable Revata. But he was practicing meditation and did not tell them anything. They were disappointed and so went to see Venerable Sāriputta. He expounded the Dharma in length, telling them many profound teachings they did not quite understand. Still unhappy, they went to Venerable Ānanda. He explained shortly basic teachings of the Buddha.
    Atula and his friends then went to see the Buddha. They complained. Revata did not say anything at all, Sāriputta spoke too much and Ānanda too little. After such a long time, they still were not satisfied. The Buddha replied with this verse (and the following ones, DhP 228, DhP 229 and DhP 230), saying that, as before, so today, there is no one who is never blamed.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

porāṇam
etaṃ
atula
na
ajjatanām
iva
nindanti
tuṇhim
āsīnaṃ
bahubhāṇinaṃ
bahu
bhāṇinaṃ
mitabhāṇim
mita
bhāṇim
pi
na
atthi
loke
anindito