Just like the jasmine sheds its withered flowers,
so you should shed passion and hatred, monks.

vassikā   viya pupphāni maddavāni pamuñcati
|                |         |                |                |
N.f.        part.   N.n.        Adj.n.       V.act.in.
Nom.Sg.    |    Acc.Pl.     Acc.Pl.     3.Sg.pres.
|                |         |_________|                |
|                |                 |______________|
|_________|________________|
       |_____|
            |___________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

evaṃ rāgaṃ    ca   dosaṃ   ca vippamuñcetha bhikkhavo
|            |          |         |         |            |                   |
Adv.  N.m.   conj.   N.m.  conj.    V.act.            N.m.
|       Acc.Sg.    |    Acc.Sg.    |     2.Pl.opt.        Voc.Sg.
|            |_____|          |_____|            |                   |
|                 |___________|                |                   |
|                            |______________|                   |
|                                          |_________________|
|________________________________|
_______________|

vassikā: vassikā-, N.f.: jasmine. Nom.Sg. = vassikā.

viya, part.: as, like.

pupphāni: puppha-, N.n.: flower. Acc.Pl. = pupphāni.

maddavāni: maddava-, Adj.: withered, soft. Acc.Pl.n. = maddavāni.

pamuñcati, V.: releases, sheds. The verb root is muc-, to free, with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = pamuñcati.

evaṃ, Adv.: thus, in this way.

List of Abbreviations

rāgaṃ: rāga-, N.m.: passion, lust. It is derived from the verb raj- (to color). Acc.Sg. = rāgaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

dosaṃ: dosa-, N.m.: ill-will, hatred, anger. Acc.Sg. = dosaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

vippamuñcetha, V.: release, shed. The verb root is muc-, to free, with the prefixes pa- (strengthening) and vi- (away, from). 2.Pl.act.opt. = vippamuñcetha.

bhikkhavo: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Voc.Pl. = bhikkhavo.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically related sentences. They are:
    1) vassikā viya pupphāni maddavāni pamuñcati (just like the jasmine sheds its withered flowers). The subject is the noun vassikā (jasmine, nominative singular). The verb is pamuñcati (sheds, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun pupphāni (flowers, accusative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective maddavāni (withered, accusative plural). The particle viya (as, like) connects this sentence to the following one.
    2) evaṃ rāgaṃ ca dosaṃ ca vippamuñcetha bhikkhavo (so you should shed passion and hatred, monks). The subject is the noun bhikkhavo (monks, vocative plural). The verb is vippamuñcetha (you should shed, 2^nd person, plural, active, optative). There are two objects, rāgaṃ (passion, accusative singular) and dosaṃ (hatred, accusative singular). They are connected by two conjunctions ca (and). The adverb evaṃ (thus, so) connects this sentence to the previous one.

A group of monks received a subject of meditation from the Buddha and they started to practice diligently. Once they observed a jasmine flowers, which blossomed beautifully in the morning, only to wither away and be shed in the evening. They realized that they must do the same with all the mental defilements of their minds. The Buddha then spoke this verse to them, further reinforcing the idea. The monks reflected on this and soon all attained the Awakenment.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

vassikā
viya
pupphāni
maddavāni
pamuñcati
evaṃ
rāgaṃ
ca
dosaṃ
vippamuñcetha
bhikkhavo