One does not understand Dharma only because one speaks a lot.
Who sees Dharma directly, after having heard even a little of it,
and who does not neglect the Dharma, such a one does understand it.

na    tāvatā dhamma+dharo    yāvatā   bahu   bhāsati
|           |           |            |             |           |          |
neg.  Adv.     N.m.    Adj.m.  Rel.Adv. Adv.  V.act.in.
|           |           |       Nom.Sg.      |           |    3.Sg.pres.
|           |           |_______|             |           |______|
|______|__________|                   |__________|
     |___|                                               |
        |____________________________|

List of Abbreviations

yo                 ca  appam   pi  sutvāna dhammaṃ kāyena  passati
|                     |        |         |        |             |              |           |
Rel.Pron.m. conj. Adj.n. part. V.ger.     N.m.       N.m.   V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.         |   Acc.Sg.   |        |        Acc.Sg.    Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|                     |        |_____|        |             |              |______|
|____________|_______|            |             |___________|
                             |__________|                        |
                                       |__________________|
                                                        |____________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sa           ve dhamma+dharo        hoti              yo    dhammaṃ na   ppamajjati
|               |        |            |               |                 |             |          |          |
Pron.m. part.  N.m.    Adj.m.    V.act.in.  Rel.Pron.m.  N.m.    neg.  V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.   |        |       Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.    Nom.Sg.  Acc.Sg.    |     3.Sg.pres.
|               |        |_______|               |                 |             |         |______|
|________|               |____________|                 |             |________|
        |__________________|                             |____________|
____________|    |______________________________|

na, neg.: not.

tāvatā, Adv.: on that account, thus.

dhammadharo: dhammadhara-, Adj.: one who holds the Dharma, who knows the Dharma really well. It is a compound of:
    dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together".
    dhara-, Adj.: keeping, holding, knowing. It is derived from the verb root dha- (to hold).
Nom.Sg.m. = dhammadharo.

yāvatā, Rel.Adv.: as far as, because.

bahu, Adv.: much, a lot. It is derived from the word bahu-, Adj.: large, much, very.

bhāsati, V.: speaks. The verb root is bhās-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhāsati.

List of Abbreviations

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

ca, conj.: and.

appam: appa-, Adj.: little, few. Acc.Sg.n. = appam.

pi, part.: even, only.

sutvāna, V.ger.: having heard. The verb root is su- (to hear).

dhammaṃ: dhamma-, N.m.: Buddha's Teaching. The Law. Derived from the verb dha-, to hold. Thus dhamma "holds the world together". Acc.Sg. = dhammaṃ.

kāyena: kāya-, N.m.: body. Here as "directly, by one's own effort". Ins.Sg. = kāyena.

passati: sees. The verb root is dis- (to see). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = passati.

List of Abbreviations

sa: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = sa (the more usual form is so).

ve, part.: indeed.

dhammadharo: see above.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

dhammaṃ: see above.

na: see above.

pamajjati, V.: is careless, neglects. The verb root is mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pamajjati.
Euphonic combination: na + pamajjati = na ppamajjati.

List of Abbreviations

    This sentence consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na tāvatā dhammadharo yāvatā bahu bhāsati (one does not understand Dharma only because one speaks a lot). This can be analysed into two parts:
    a) na tāvatā dhammadharo (one does not understand Dharma). The subject is omitted. The third person singular pronoun is implied. The verb is also omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective dhammadharo (one who understands the Dharma, nominative singular). The adverb tāvatā (on account of) connects this part to the following one.
    b) yāvatā bahu bhāsati (only because one speaks a lot). The subject is omitted. The third person singular pronoun is implied. The verb is bhāsati (speaks, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adverb bahu (a lot). The relative adverb yāvatā (as far as, because) connects this part to the previous one.
    2) yo ca appam pi sutvāna dhammaṃ kāyena passati sa ve dhammadharo hoti yo dhammaṃ na ppamajjati (who sees Dharma directly, after having heard even a little of it, and who does not neglect the Dharma, such a one does understand it). This can be further analysed into three related sentences:
    a) yo ca appam pi sutvāna dhammaṃ kāyena passati (who sees Dharma directly, after having heard even a little of it). This sentence has two segments:
    I) yo ca appam pi sutvāna (after having heard even a little of it). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is in gerund, sutvāna (having heard). It has an attribute, the adjective appam (a little, accusative singular). It is modified by the conjunction pi (even). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    II) dhammaṃ kāyena passati (who sees Dharma directly). The subject is still the relative adverb yo from the previous segment. The verb is passati (sees, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun kāyena (by the body, directly; instrumental singular). The object is the noun dhammaṃ (Dharma, accusative singular).
    b) sa ve dhammadharo hoti (such a one does understand the Dharma). The subject is the pronoun sa (he, nominative singular). The verb is hoti (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective dhammadharo (one who understands the Dharma, nominative singular). The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    c) yo dhammaṃ na ppamajjati (who does not neglect the Dharma). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is pamajjati (neglects, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun dhammaṃ (Dharma, accusative singular).

    A monk named Ekudāna lived alone in the forest. He knew by heart only one verse of the Dharma, but he fully understood its meaning. Whenever he would recite the verse, the guardian spirits of the forest would applaud.
    At one occasion, two learned monks with many disciples came to that place. They asked Ekudāna of there were many beings that wished to learn the Dharma. Ekudāna told them about the spirits applauding every time the Dharma was spoken. The two monks they took turns preaching the Dharma but when they finished, the guardian spirits did not applaud at all. Therefore they started to doubt Ekudāna’s words. But Ekudāna simply recited the verse he knew and immediately the spirits started to applaud.
    The two monks returned to Sāvatthi and reported the matter to Buddha. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that in understanding the Dharma, quality is much more important than quantity. To remember only one verse, but understanding it fully is far better than remembering all the Buddha’s words but not actually grasping their meaning.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
tāvatā
dhammadharo
dhamma
dharo
yāvatā
bahu
bhāsati
yo
ca
appam
pi
sutvāna
dhammaṃ
kāyena
passati
sa
ve
hoti
pamajjati