One, who speaks lies, goes to hell.
And also the one, who having done a deed, says, "I did not do it".
Both these people of low actions are equal,
in the other world, after they die.

abhūta+vādī   nirayaṃ    upeti
|              |            |             |
Adj.   Adj.m.     N.m.    V.act.in.
|        Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|________|            |_______|
       |_______________|

List of Abbreviations

yo                vā     pi    katvā  na    karomi       ti     ca        āha
|                     |       |         |       |           |           |        |           |
Rel.Pron.m. conj. part. V.ger. neg.  V.act.in.   part. conj.   V.act.
Nom.Sg.         |____|         |       |    1.Sg.pres.    |        |    3.Sg.perf.
|                         |             |       |______|           |        |           |
|                         |             |             |_________|        |           |
|                         |             |                      |_________|______|
|                         |             |_________________|
|______________|________________|

List of Abbreviations

ubho          pi    pecca   samā     bhavanti
|                  |         |          |              |
Adj.m.      part. V.ger.  Adj.m.   V.act.in.
Nom.Du.     |         |     Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.pres.
|__________|         |          |________|
         |                   |_________|
         |_______________|____________________________________I.
                     |               |____________________________________II.
                     |_____________________|

List of Abbreviations

nihīna+kammā  manujā parattha
|               |            |            |
Adj.    Adj.m.     N.m.     Adv.
|         Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl.      |
|________|            |             |
       |___________|             |
I.________|                        |
II._____________________|

abhūtavādī: abhūtavādin-, Adj.: speaking lies. It is a compound of:
    abhūta-, Adj.: not real, false. As an N.n.: lie, untruth. It is the word bhūta-, Adj.: being, having become (it is a p.p. of the verb bhū-, to be) negated by the negative prefix a-.
    vādin-, Adj.: speaking. It is derived from the verb root vad- (to say).
Nom.Sg.m. = abhūtavādī.

nirayaṃ: niraya-, N.m.: hell. Acc.Sg. = nirayaṃ.

upeti, V.: undergo, come to, approach. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix upa- (near). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = upeti.

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

vā, conj.: or.

pi, conj/part.: also. too.

List of Abbreviations

katvā, V.ger.: having done. The verb root is kar- (to do).

na, neg.: not.

karomi, V.: [I] do. The verb root is kar-. 1.Sg.in.act.pres. = karomi.

ti, part.: a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech. In English this is expressed by quotation marks. Sometimes it is written as iti.

ca, conj.: and.

āha, V.: said. The verb root is ah-. 3.Sg.act.perf. = āha.
Euphonic combination: ca + āha = cāha.

ubho: ubha-, Adj.: both. Acc.Du.m. = ubho. This is a rare remnant of dual in Pali.

List of Abbreviations

pi: see above.

pecca, V.ger.: after death. It is a ger. of the verb i- (to go) with the prefix pa- (directional prefix of forward motion). This verb means literally "to go over", it is used as an euphemism for "to die".

samā: sama-, Adj.: same, just like, equal. Nom.Pl.m. = samā.

bhavanti, V.: are. The verb root is bhū- (to be). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = bhavanti.

nihīnakammā: nihīnakamma-, Adj.: of low actions. It is a compound of:
    nihīna-, Adj.: low, inferior. It is p.p. of the verb hā- (to reject) with the prefix ni- (down).
    kamma-, N.n.: deed, action. It is derived from the verb kar-, to do.
Nom.Pl.m. = nihīnakammā.

manujā: manuja-, N.m.: man, person, human being. Nom.Pl. = manujā.

parattha, Adv.: lit. elsewhere; hereafter, in the other world.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) abhūtavādī nirayaṃ upeti (One, who speaks lies, goes to hell). The subject is the adjective compound abhūtavādī (speaking lies, nominative singular). The verb is upeti (goes, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun nirayaṃ (to hell, accusative singular).
    2) yo vā pi katvā na karomi ti cāha (and also the one, who having done a deed, says, "I did not do it"). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). It is stressed by two conjunctions vā (or) and pi (also). There are two verbs. One is in gerund, katvā (having done). The second one is āha (said, 3^rd person, singular, active, perfect). It has an attribute, the verb karomi (I do, 1^st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not) and marked as a direct speech by the particle ti (end of direct speech). The conjunction ca (and) here serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    3) ubho pi pecca samā bhavanti nihīnakammā manujā parattha (both these people of low actions are equal, in the other world, after they die). The subject is the noun manujā (people, nominative plural). It has two attributes, the first of them the adjective ubho (both, nominative dual). It is stressed by particle/conjunction pi (too). The second attribute is the adjective compound nihīnakammā (of low action, nominative plural). The verb is bhavanti (are, 3rs person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). It has two attributes, the gerund pecca (after death) and the adverb parattha (hereafter). The object is the adjective samā (same, equal, nominative plural).

    The Buddha had many followers. Some of them had been disciples of other teachers and came to the Buddha after hearing and realizing the Dharma. The other teachers did not much like this and some of them came up with a plan.
    They instructed a young woman named Sundarī to make it appear as if she had an affair with the Buddha. In the evening, she would go in the direction of the monastery and in the morning return from that direction to the city. To anyone interested she would say that she is the Buddha's mistress. Then the plotters hired some killers to kill Sundarī and dumped her body near the Buddha's monastery.
    The body was found and the plotters started to go around the city, saying that not only the Buddha had a mistress; he also killed her when the fact became known. The Buddha remained calm, he just replied with this verse.
    The king decided to investigate the matter further. Thus his men learned about the hired killers. When these were arrested, they admitted to being hired by the evil plotters. They were made to go around the city, proclaiming their own crime and the Buddha's complete innocence in the matter. The fame of the Buddha was much enhanced and he had even more followers than before.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

abhūtavādī
abhūta
vādī
nirayaṃ
upeti
yo
vā
pi
katvā
na
karomi
ti
ca
āha
ubho
pecca
samā
bhavanti
nihīnakammā
nihīna
kammā
manujā
parattha