Having undertaken the effort, cut off the stream of suffering. Dispel sense-pleasures, Brahmin!
Having realized the destruction of conditioned things, you know the Nirvana, Brahmin!

chinda       sotaṃ parakkamma kāme   panuda  brāhmaṇa
|                    |              |              |            |             |
V.act.         N.m.      V.ger.      N.m.     V.act.      N.m.
2.Sg.impt. Acc.Sg.        |         Acc.Pl. 2.Sg.imp. Voc.Sg.
|___________|              |              |_______|             |
         |______________|                     |___________|

List of Abbreviations

saṅkhārānaṃ khayaṃ ñatvā akata+ññū         asi      brāhmaṇa
|                         |          |         |        |             |              |
N.m.               N.m.   V.ger. Adj. Adj.m.   V.act.in.    N.m.
Gen.Pl.          Acc.Sg.    |         |  Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Voc.Sg.
|______________|          |         |____|              |              |
            |_____________|             |__________|              |
                         |                                 |_____________|
                         |__________________________|

chinda, V.: cut off, destroy. The verb root is chid-. 2.Sg.act.imp. = chinda.

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

parakkamma, V.ger: undertake, show courage. The verb root is kam- (to walk, to enter into) with the prefix para- (over, beyond).

kāme: kāma-, N.m.: sense-pleasure, sense desire. Acc.Pl. = kāme.

panuda, V.: remove, dispel, drive away, reject. The verb root is nud-, with the strengthening prefix pa-. 2.Sg.act.imp. = panuda.

brāhmaṇa: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Voc.Sg. = brāhmaṇa.

saṅkhārānaṃ: saṅkhāra-, N.m.: conditioned thing, world of phenomena. The meaning of this word is very wide, here we will use "conditioned thing". It comprises all of the world around us, including ourselves. Gen.Pl. = saṅkhārānaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

khayaṃ: khaya-, N.m.: destruction, dissolution, end. Acc.Sg. = khayaṃ.

ñatvā, V.ger.: having known. It is a ger. of the verb ñā- (to know).

akataññū: akataññū-, Adj.: who knows the Nirvana. It is a compound of:
    akata-, Adj.: uncreated, not made. It is the word kata-, Adj: done, made (it is a p.p. of the verb root kar-, to do) with the negative prefix a-. It is an epithet for the Nirvana.
    -ññū-, Adj.suf.: knowing. It is derived from the verb root ñā- (to know).
Nom.Sg.m. = akataññū.

asi, V.: [you] are. The verb root is as- (to be). 2.Sg.act.in.pres. = asi.
Euphonic combination: akataññū + asi = akataññūsi.

brāhmaṇa: see above.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) chinda sotaṃ parakkamma (having undertaken the effort, cut off the stream [of suffering]). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is chinda (cut off, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). It has an attribute, the gerund parakkamma (having undertaken). The object is the noun sotaṃ (stream, accusative singular).
    2) kāme panuda brāhmaṇa (dispel sense-pleasures, Brahmin). The subject is the noun brāhmaṇa (Brahmin, vocative singular). The verb is panuda (dispel, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the noun kāme (sense-pleasures, accusative plural).
    3) saṅkhārānaṃ khayaṃ ñatvā akataññūsi brāhmaṇa (having realized the destruction of conditioned things, you know the Nirvana, Brahmin). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) saṅkhārānaṃ khayaṃ ñatvā (having realized the destruction of conditioned things). The verb is in gerund, ñatvā (having known). The object is the noun khayaṃ (destruction, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the noun saṅkhārānaṃ (of conditioned things, genitive plural).
    b) akataññūsi brāhmaṇa (you know the Nirvana, Brahmin). The subject is the noun brāhmaṇa (Brahmin, vocative singular). The verb is asi ([you] are, 2^nd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound akataññū (knower of the Nirvana, nominative singular).

    A certain Brahmin in Sāvatthi was a follower of the Buddha. Often he invited the monks to his house and he would address them as Arahants. Those monks, who had not yet attained the Arahantship, were embarrassed and many monks started to avoid the Brahmin's house.
    The Brahmin felt sad and asked the Buddha why so many monks stopped coming to his house. The Buddha then questioned the monks and they told him about the Brahmin's form of address. The Buddha told them that the Brahmin did not mean anything bad; he spoke only out of his respect and devotion to the Arahants. Then the Buddha spoke this verse, saying that monks should uproot the stream of suffering, realize the destruction of conditioned things and experience the Nirvana.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

chinda
sotaṃ
parakkamma
kāme
panuda
brāhmaṇa
saṅkhārānaṃ
khayaṃ
ñatvā
akataññū
akata
ññū
asi