Let go of the past, let go of the future.
Let go of the present. When you cross over to the other shore of existence,
and your mind will be completely free,
you will never again come to birth and aging.

muñca      pure     muñca pacchato
|                  |            |            |
V.act.       Adv.    V.act.     Adv.
2.Sg.imp.     |     2.Sg.imp.      |
|__________|            |_______|

List of Abbreviations

majjhe    muñca  bhavassa pāra+gū
|                  |             |          |      |
Adj.        V.act.      N.m.   N.n. N.m.
Loc.Sg. 2.Sg.imp. Gen.Sg.    |  Nom.Sg.
|__________|             |          |____|
                                |________|
                                        |_____________________________

List of Abbreviations

sabbattha vimutta+mānaso
|                   |            |
Adv.         Adj.     Adj.m.
|                   |      Nom.Sg.
|                   |______|
|______________|
_______|
      |________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

na    punaṃ jāti+jaraṃ   upehisi
|           |        |        |            |
neg.  Adv.   N.f.  N.f.     V.act.
|           |        |   Acc.Sg. 2.Sg.fut.
|           |        |____|             |
|______|_______|_________|
     |___|             |
        |_________|
_________|

muñca, V.: let go, abandon, give up, leave behind. The verb root is muc-, to free.
2.Sg.act.imp. = muñca.

pure, Adv.: before, formerly.

muñca: see above.

pacchato, Adv.: afterwards, after, later.

majjhe: majjha-, Adj.: middle. Here: present (in the middle between the past and the future).
Loc.Sg. = majjhe.

muñca: see above.

List of Abbreviations

bhavassa: bhava-, N.m.: becoming, existence. It is derived from the verb root bhū- (to be).
Gen.Sg. = bhavassa.

pāragū: pāragū-, N.m.: gone to the other shore, crossed over, gone beyond. It is a compound of:
    pāra-, N.n.: the opposite shore, the other side.
    gū-, suf.: going, having gone. It is derived from the verb root gam- (to go).
Nom.Sg. = pāragū.

sabbattha, Adv.: everywhere, in every place.

vimuttamānaso: vimuttamānasa-, Adj.: with an emancipated mind. It is a compound of:
    vimutta-, Adj.: emancipated, freed, released. It is a p.p. of the verb root muc- (to release) with the prefix vi- (separation).
    mānasa-, N.n.: belonging to the mind, intention, purpose, mind, mental action, heart. It is derived from the word manas-, N.n.: mind.
Nom.Sg.m. = vimuttamānaso.

List of Abbreviations

na, neg.: not.

punaṃ, Adv.: again.

jātijaraṃ: jātijara-, N.f.: birth and old age. It is a compound of:
    jāti-, N.f.: birth, rebirth.
    jarā-, N.f.: old age.
Acc.Sg. = jātijaraṃ.

upehisi: [you will] come to, approach. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix upa- (near).
2.Sg.act.fut. = upehisi.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) muñca pure (let go of the past). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is muñca (let go, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adverb pure (before).
    2) muñca pacchato (let go of the future). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is muñca (let go, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adverb pacchato (after).
    3) majjhe muñca (let go of the present). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is muñca (let go, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the adjective majjhe (in the middle, locative singular).
    4) bhavassa pāragū sabbattha vimuttamānaso na punaṃ jātijaraṃ upehisi (when you cross over to the other shore of existence, and your mind will be completely free, you will never again come to birth and aging). There are two subjects, the noun pāragū (crossed over to the other shore, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun bhavassa (of existence, genitive singular) and the compound vimuttamānaso (with an emancipated mind, nominative singular) with its attribute, the adverb sabbatha (everywhere). The verb is upehisi ([you] will approach, 2^nd person, singular, active, future). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb punaṃ (again). The object is the compound jātijaraṃ (to birth and aging, accusative singular).

    Once a group of wandering acrobats came to Rājagaha. A young man named Uggasena fell in love with a beautiful dancer from the troupe. He married her and joined the group. But since he was not an acrobat, he could only help carry boxes, drive carts and perform similar tasks.
    The girl gave birth to a son later but she often scolded her husband for not being able to do anything better. Uggasena therefore learned the secrets of acrobatics and became a very skilful acrobat himself.
    One day the group returned to Rājagaha. Uggasena was eager to perform as he expected to be applauded for his skills. Just as he was performing, the Buddha passed near the place and all the attention of the crowd was drawn to him. Uggasena just sat there feeling very depressed. The Buddha told him this verse and Uggasena reached the Awakenment there and then. He became a monk immediately.
    Later the Buddha told Uggasena's story. A long time ago, during the times of the Buddha Kassapa, Uggasena gave almsfood to a monk and made a wish that he could reach Arahantship one day. The monk was an Arahant and looked into the future and smiled, because he was able to see that his wish would be fulfilled. Uggasena misunderstood the monk's smile and thought the monk was laughing at him. Therefore he became angry. Because of that he had to travel with a group of acrobats for some time before reaching his goal.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

muñca
pure
pacchato
majjhe
bhavassa
pāragū
pāra
gū
sabbattha
vimuttamānaso
vimutta
mānaso
na
punaṃ
jātijaraṃ
jāti
jaraṃ
upehisi