Protect yourself from blameworthy thoughts; guard your mind well.
Having renounced the wrong mental deed, practice the right mental action.

mano+ppakopaṃ rakkheyya  manasā  saṃvuto      siyā
|               |                 |              |             |               |
N.n.     N.m.          V.act.        N.n.     Adj.m.      V.act.
|          Acc.Sg.     3.Sg.opt.    Ins.Sg.  Nom.Sg.   3.Sg.opt.
|________|                 |              |________|                |
        |_____________|                      |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

mano+duccaritaṃ hitvā  manasā sucaritaṃ   care
|                |             |            |           |              |
N.n.       N.n.      V.ger.     N.n.      N.n.       V.act.
|           Acc.Sg.       |        Ins.Sg. Acc.Sg.   3.Sg.opt.
|________|              |          |_______|               |
        |____________|                |____________|
                   |_____________________|

manoppakopaṃ: manoppakopa-, N.m.: blameworthy thoughts. It is a compound of:
    mano-, N.n.: mind.
    pakopa-, N.m.: anger.
Euphonic combination: mano- + pakopa- = manoppakopa-.
Acc.Sg. = manoppakopaṃ.

rakkheyya, V.: should protect. The verb root is rakkh- (to protect). 3.Sg.act.opt. = rakkheyya.

manasā: manas-, N.n.: mind. Inst.Sg. = manāsa.

saṃvuto: saṃvuta-, Adj.: restrained, governed, guarded. It is a p.p. of the verb var- (to obstruct) with the prefix saṃ- (together, completely). Nom.Sg.m. = saṃvuto.

siyā, V.: would be. The verb root is as-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = siyā.

List of Abbreviations

manoduccaritaṃ: manoduccarita-, N.n.: wrong mental deed. It is a compound of:
    mano-, N.n.: mind.
    duccarita-, Adj.: wrong-conduct, wrong action. It is the word carita-, N.n.: action, conduct (originally it is the p.p. of the verb root car-, to walk, to act), with the prefix du- (wrong, bad).
Acc.Sg. = manoduccaritaṃ.

hitvā, V.ger.: having renounced, having left behind. It is a ger. of the verb hā- (to abandon, to leave).

manasā: see above.

sucaritaṃ: sucarita-, Adj.: good-conduct, right action. It is the word carita-, N.n.: action, conduct (originally it is the p.p. of the verb root car-, to walk, to act), with the prefix su- (good, well).
Acc.Sg.m. = sucaritaṃ.

care, V.: should practice. The verb root is car- (to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) manoppakopaṃ rakkheyya (one should protect oneself from blameworthy thoughts). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is rakkheyya ([one] should protect oneself, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun manoppakopaṃ (from blameworthy thoughts, accusative singular).
    2) manasā saṃvuto siyā (one should be guarded as for the mind). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is siyā ([one] should be, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the past participle saṃvuto (guarded, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun manasā (by the mind, instrumental singular).
    3) manoduccaritaṃ hitvā manasā sucaritaṃ care (having renounced the wrong mental deed, one should practice the right mental action). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) manoduccaritaṃ hitvā (having renounced the wrong verbal deed). The verb is in gerund, hitvā (having renounced). The object is the compound manoduccaritaṃ (wrong mental deed, accusative singular).
    b) manasā sucaritaṃ care (one should practice the right mental action). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is care ([one] should practice, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun sucaritaṃ (right action, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun manasā (by the mind, instrumental singular).

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verses (DhP 231, DhP 232) and the following one (DhP 234).
    Even the thinking is very important. Truly, mental action is probably the most important of the three (bodily, verbal, mental). The bodily and verbal actions are only byproducts of the mental action. Thinking comes first and only after that we act with our body or our mouth. Therefore, the key to controlling our bodily and verbal actions lays in controlling our minds.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

manoppakopaṃ
mano
pakopaṃ
rakkheyya
manasā
saṃvuto
siyā
manoduccaritaṃ
duccaritaṃ
hitvā
sucaritaṃ
care