Those who are excited by passion fall into the current
as if a spider would fall into his own web.
Having cut off this, the wise ones without desires wander about as monks,
having abandoned all suffering.

ye               rāga+rattā anupatanti    sotaṃ
|                     |        |            |              |
Rel.Pron.m. N.m. Adj.m. V.act.in.    N.m.
Nom.Pl.         |   Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.pres. Acc.Sg.
|                     |_____|           |________|
|_______________|                      |
            |_____________________|
                              |________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

sayaṅ+kataṃ makkaṭako va  jālaṃ
|              |            |          |        |
Adv.  Adj.m.    N.m.    part.  N.n.
|       Acc.Sg.  Nom.Sg.    |   Acc.Sg.
|________|            |         |         |
       |___________|_____|_____|
                |______|         |
                      |________|
__________________|

List of Abbreviations

etam       pi   chetvāna vajanti     dhīrā
|               |         |             |            |
Pron.m. part. V.ger.    V.act.in.  Adj.m.
Acc.Sg.     |        |       3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl.
|_________|       |              |            |_________________________I.
         |________|               |__________________|
                 |_________________|        |______________________II.

List of Abbreviations

anapekkhino sabba+dukkhaṃ pahāya
        |                |            |             |
   Adj.m.         Adj.       N.n.      V.ger.
  Nom.Pl.          |       Acc.Sg.        |
I.___|                |_______|             |
                               |___________|
II. _____________________|

ye: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Pl.m. = ye.

rāgarattā: rāgaratta-, Adj.: excited by passion. It is a compound of:
    rāga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color).
    ratta-, Adj.: excited, infatuated. It is a p.p. of the verb root raj- (to color).
Nom.Pl.m. = rāgarattā.

anupatanti, V.: fall into, go along. The verb root is pat- (to fall, to fly) with the prefix anu- (after, along). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = anupatanti.
Euphonic combination: rāgarattā + anupatanti = rāgarattānupatanti.

sotaṃ: sota-, N.m.: stream. Acc.Sg. = sotaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

sayaṅkataṃ: sayaṅkata-, Adj.: created by himself. It is a compound of:
    sayaṅ, Adv.: self, by oneself.
    kata-, Adj.: done, made, created. It is a p.p. of the verb root kar- (to do).
Acc.Sg.m. = sayaṅkataṃ.

makkaṭako: makkaṭaka-, N.m.: spider. Nom.Sg. = makkaṭako.

va, part.: as, like.

jālaṃ: jāla-, N.n.: web, snare, net. Acc.Sg. = jālaṃ.

etam: etad-, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.n. = etam.

pi, part.: also.

chetvāna, V.ger.: having destroyed, having cut off. The verb root is chid- (to cut off).

List of Abbreviations

vajanti, V.: go, wander [as monks]. The verb root is vaj- (to go). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vajanti.

dhīrā: dhīra-, Adj.: wise, clever. Nom.Pl.m. = dhīrā.

anapekkhino: anapekkhin-, Adj.: without affection, desire, longing. It is the word apekkhin-, Adj.: longing, with affection (this is derived from the verb root īkh-, to look with the prefix apa-, down, on) negated by the negative prefix an-. Nom.Pl.m. = anapekkhino.

sabbadukkhaṃ: sabbadukkha-, N.n.: all suffering. It is a compound of:
    sabba-, Adj.: all.
    dukkha-, N.n.: sorrow, pain, suffering.
Acc.Sg. = sabbadukkhaṃ.

pahāya, V.: having abandoned. It is a ger. of the verb hā- (to leave, to give up) with the strengthening prefix pa-.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) ye rāgarattānupatanti sotaṃ sayaṅkataṃ makkaṭako va jālaṃ (those who are excited by passion fall into the current as if a spider would fall into his own web). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and the clause b):
    a) ye rāgarattānupatanti sotaṃ (those who are excited by passion fall into the current). The subject is the compound rāgarattā (excited by passion, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the relative pronoun ye (those who, nominative plural). The verb is anupatanti (fall into, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun sotaṃ (to the current, accusative singular).
    b) sayaṅkataṃ makkaṭako va jālaṃ (as if a spider would fall into his own web). The subject is the noun makkaṭako (spider, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb from the main sentence. The object is the noun jālaṃ (to the web, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the compound adjective sayaṅkataṃ (done by himself, accusative singular). The particle va (as, like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    2) etam pi chetvāna vajanti dhīrā anapekkhino sabbadukkhaṃ pahāya (having cut off this, the wise ones without desire wander about as monks, having abandoned all suffering). This can be further analysed into the main sentence a) and two dependent clauses b) and c):
    a) vajanti dhīrā anapekkhino (the wise ones without desire wander about as monks). The subject is the noun dhīrā (wise ones, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective anapekkhino (those without desire, nominative plural). The verb is vajanti (wander about [as monks], 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense).
    b) etam pi chetvāna (having cut off this). The subject is omitted; the subject of the main sentence is implied. The verb is in gerund, chetvāna (having cut off). The object is the pronoun etam (this, accusative singular). It is stressed by the particle pi (also).
    c) sabbadukkhaṃ pahāya (having abandoned all suffering). The subject is omitted; the subject of the main sentence is implied. The verb is in gerund, pahāya (having abandoned). The object is the compound sabbadukkhaṃ (suffering, accusative singular).

    Queen Khemā was the wife of king Bimbisāra. She was very beautiful and proud of her beauty. The king wanted her to go to the monastery and listen to the Buddha's discourse. But Khemā knew that the Buddha often talked about impermanency and non-attachment to the body, she did not dare to go to see him.
    Finally the king ordered his musicians to play a song praising the Veluvana monastery and the queen decided to go. She sat in the audience while the Buddha was expounding the teaching. The Buddha then created a vision of a female form (which was visible only to Khemā) to sit near him on the stage, where he was delivering his speech and to fan him. The girl was very young and extremely beautiful. Khemā saw her and realized that compared to this girl she herself looked like a monkey.
    While she was looking, the girl began to grow older. She became a young woman, then a grown up woman, middle aged, old - and finally she became a very old woman. Khemā realized that the change of the body is a continuing process and she found out that this beautiful young girl changed into an old ugly woman. Then the woman on stage, no longer able to control her body, was lying there, dying and finally she died. Her body got swollen and worms were all over it.
    Khemā thus finally realized that also her beauty was very impermanent - it was subjected to illness, old age and death. The Buddha further instructed her with this verse and at the end Khemā attained Arahantship. Later she joined the order and became the chief female disciple of the Buddha.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

ye
rāgarattā
rāga
rattā
anupatanti
sotaṃ
sayaṅkataṃ
sayaṅ
kataṃ
makkaṭako
va
jālaṃ
etam
pi
chetvāna
vajanti
dhīrā
anapekkhino
sabbadukkhaṃ
sabba
dukkhaṃ
pahāya