Cut off your own desires, as if picking an autumnal lotus with your hand.
Practice the path of tranquility, Nirvana taught by the Buddha.

ucchinda sineham attano   kumudaṃ sāradikaṃ  va   pāṇinā
|                   |           |             |                |          |         |
V.act.        N.m.    Pron.      N.n.         Adj.n.   part.  N.m.
2.Sg.imp. Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg. Acc.Sg.      Acc.Sg.    |     Ins.Sg.
|                   |______|             |_________|          |         |
|______________|                           |__________|_____|
             |                                                 |_____|
             |______________________________|

List of Abbreviations

santi+maggam eva    brūhaya nibbānaṃ sugatena desitaṃ
|             |          |           |             |              |            |
N.f.    N.m.    part.    V.act.      N.n.      Adj.m.    Adj.n.
|       Acc.Sg.     |     2.Sg.imp. Acc.Sg.    Ins.Sg.  Acc.Sg.
|_______|          |            |             |             |_______|
       |_________|            |             |___________|
                |___________|_____________|
                           |_____|

ucchinda, V.: cut off, destroy. The verb root is chid- (cut off, remove), with the prefix ud- (out, off). 2.Sg.act.imp. = ucchinda.

sineham: sineha-, N.m.: affection, lust, desire. Acc.Sg. = sineham.

attano: attan-, N.m./Pron.: self, oneself. Gen.Sg. = attano.

kumudaṃ: kumuda-, N.n.: lotus. Acc.Sg. = kumudaṃ.

sāradikaṃ: sāradika-, Adj.: autumnal. It is derived from the word: sarada-, N.m.: fall, autumn. Acc.Sg.n. = sāradikaṃ.

va, part.: as, like.

pāṇinā: pāṇi-, N.m.: hand, palm. Ins.Sg. = pāṇinā.

List of Abbreviations

santimaggam: santimagga-, N.m.: the path of tranquility. It is a compound of:
    santi-, N.f.: tranquility, peace.
    magga-, N.m.: way, road, path.
Acc.Sg. = santimaggam.

eva, part.: just, only.

brūhaya, V.: develop, practice, devote oneself to. The verb root is brah-. 2.Sg.act.imp. = brūhaya.

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

sugatena: sugata-, Adj.: well-gone, an epithet of the Buddha. It is a p.p. of the verb root gam- (to go) preceded by the prefix su- (well). Ins.Sg.m. = sugatena.

desitaṃ: desita-, Adj.: taught. It is a p.p. of the verb root dis-, to teach. Acc.Sg.n. = desitaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) ucchinda sineham attano kumudaṃ sāradikaṃ va pāṇinā (cut off your own desires, as if picking an autumnal lotus with your hand). This can be further analyzed into the main sentence a) and the clause b):
    a) ucchinda sineham attano (cut off your own desires). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is ucchinda (cut off, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the noun sineham (desire, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun attano (own, genitive singular).
    b) kumudaṃ sāradikaṃ va pāṇinā (as if picking an autumnal lotus with your hand). The subject and verb are omitted, implying the ones from the main sentence. The object is the noun kumudaṃ (lotus, accusative singular). It has two attributes, the adjective sāradikaṃ (autumnal, accusative singular) and the noun pāṇinā (with the hand, instrumental singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    2) santimaggam eva brūhaya nibbānaṃ sugatena desitaṃ (practice the path of tranquility, Nirvana taught by the Buddha). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is brūhaya (practice, develop; 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). There are two objects: a) the compound santimaggam (the path of tranquility, accusative singular). It is stressed by the particle eva (just, only); b) the noun nibbānaṃ (Nirvana, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle desitaṃ (taught, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective sugatena (by the Buddha, instrumental singular).

    Venerable Sāriputta had a young monk as a pupil. This monk was a son of a goldsmith. Sāriputta gave him a subject of meditation (impurity of the body) and the monk went to the forest to practice meditation. But he did not make any progress and kept returning to Sāriputta to ask for more instructions. So Sāriputta took him to see the Buddha.
    The Buddha changed the tactics. He gave the monk a beautiful lotus. He told him to put it in front of himself and meditate on its purity and beauty. The monk did so and was able to reach unbroken concentration and achieve the fourth level of mental absorption (jhāna).
    At that moment the Buddha made the lotus to wither. The monk saw this and realized the impermanence of all things. The Buddha then further exhorted him with this verse. The monk reflected on its meaning and attained the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ucchinda
sineham
attano
kumudaṃ
sāradikaṃ
va
pāṇinā
santimaggam
santi
maggam
eva
brūhaya
nibbānaṃ
sugatena
desitaṃ