The Eightfold Path is the best of Paths. The best of truths are the Four Truths.
The best of mental states is absence of passion. The best of people are the ones with insight.

maggānaṃ aṭṭha+aṅgiko    seṭṭho saccānaṃ  caturo      padā
|                   |         |             |            |             |              |
N.m.        Num. Adj.m.    Adj.m.    N.n.     Num.m.     N.n.
Gen.Pl.         |   Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl.  Nom.Pl.  Nom.Pl.
|                   |_____|             |            |             |________|
|_____________|__________|            |____________|
           |_______|

List of Abbreviations

virāgo      seṭṭho dhammānaṃ dvi+padānaṃ ca  cakkhumā
|                  |              |             |          |        |           |
N.m.       Adj.m.      N.m.     Num.   N.m.  conj.  Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.  Gen.Pl.       |     Gen.Pl.   |     Nom.Sg.
|                  |________|            |______|        |           |
|______________|                         |________|______|

maggānaṃ: magga-, N.m.: road, path. Gen.Pl. = maggānaṃ.

aṭṭhaṅgiko: aṭṭhaṅgika-, Adj.: eight-fold, having eight parts. It is a compound of:
    aṭṭha-, Num. eight.
    aṅgika-, Adj.: having a part, having a constituent. It is derived from the word aṅga-, N.n.: limb, part, constituent.
Euphonic combination: aṭṭha- + aṅgika- = aṭṭhaṅgika-.
Nom.Sg.m. = aṭṭhaṅgiko.
Euphonic combination: maggānaṃ + aṭṭhaṅgiko = maggānaṭṭhaṅgiko.

seṭṭho: seṭṭha-, Adj.: best. Nom.Sg.m. = seṭṭho.

saccānaṃ: sacca-, N.n.: truth. Gen.Pl. = saccānaṃ.

caturo: catur-, Num.: four. Nom.Pl.m. = caturo.

padā: pada-, N.n.: saying, word, verse. Nom.Pl. = padā (instead of the correct form padāni).

List of Abbreviations

virāgo: virāga-, N.m.: absence of desire, absence of passion. It is the word rāga-, N.m.: desire, passion, with the prefix vi- (away from, without). Nom.Sg. = virāgo.

seṭṭho: see above.

dhammānaṃ: dhamma-, N.m.: here does not mean Buddha's teaching, but should be interpreted rather as "state of mind", "mental phenomena". Gen.Pl. = dhammānaṃ.

dvipadānaṃ: dvipada-, N.m.: human being, biped. It is a compound of:
    dvi-, Num.: two.
    pada-, N.m.: foot, leg.
Gen.Pl. = dvipadānaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

cakkhumā: cakkhumant-, Adj.: seeing, having insight, having knowledge. It is the word cakkhu-, N.n.: eye, with the possessive suffix -mant. Nom.Sg.m. = cakkhumā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) maggānaṭṭhaṅgiko seṭṭho (the Eightfold [Path] is the best of Path). The subject is the adjective aṭṭhaṅgiko (eightfold, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the noun maggānaṃ (of paths, genitive plural). The object is the adjective seṭṭho (best, nominative singular).
    2) saccānaṃ caturo padā (the best of truths are the Four Sentences). The subject is the noun padā (clauses, sentences; nominative plural). It has an attribute, the numeral caturo (four, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the noun saccānaṃ (of truths, genitive plural).
    3) virāgo seṭṭho dhammānaṃ (the best of mental states is absence of passion). The subject is the noun virāgo (absence of passion, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the noun dhammānaṃ (of mental states, genitive plural). The object is the adjective seṭṭho (best, nominative singular).
    4) dvipadānaṃ ca cakkhumā (the best of people are the ones with insight). The subject is the adjective cakkhumā (seeing, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the noun dvipadānaṃ (of bipeds, genitive plural). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes, but it also connects this sentence to the previous ones.

    Once the Buddha with a group of monks returned to the Jetavana monastery after a teaching trip. In the evening, some monks talked about the trip, about the condition of the path, about the nature of the land, whether it was hilly or flat etc.
    The Buddha entered the hall where they were talking and told them this verse (and the following ones, DhP 274, DhP 275 and DhP 276), saying that such talks were ultimately meaningless.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

maggānaṃ
aṭṭhaṅgiko
aṭṭha
aṅgiko
seṭṭho
saccānaṃ
caturo
padā
virāgo
dhammānaṃ
dvipadānaṃ
dvi
padānaṃ
ca
cakkhumā