Who knows his former births and sees both heaven and hell,
who has reached the end of rebirths, the sage who has attained higher wisdom,
one who has attained all accomplishments - him do I call a Brahmin.

pubbe+nivāsaṃ      yo           vedi   sagga+apāyaṃ ca     passati
|                |             |                |         |          |         |           |
Adj.       N.m. Rel.Pron.m.   V.act.   N.m.  N.m.   conj.  V.act.in.
|           Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg.    3.Sg.aor.   |     Acc.Sg.   |     3.Sg.pres.
|_________|             |                |         |______|        |           |
        |____________|_________|                |_______|______|
                              |         |                             |____|
                              |         |__________________|____________________I.
                              |_______________|
                                            |____________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

atho  jāti+kkhayaṃ  patto abhiññā+vosito    munī
|         |           |           |          |           |            |
part. N.f.    N.m.    Adj.m.  N.f.   Adj.m.     N.m.
|         |     Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg.   |     Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|         |______|           |          |______|             |
|               |_________|                |                   |
|______________|                       |                   |
I.______|____________________|__________|
II.________________|

List of Abbreviations

sabba+vosita+vosānaṃ   tam     ahaṃ      brūmi   brāhmaṇaṃ
|             |             |           |            |              |             |
Adj.    Adj.      Adj.m. Pron.m.   Pron.    V.act.in.    N.m.
|_______|        Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. 1.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.
       |___________|           |            |              |             |
                 |____________|            |              |             |
                             |____________|________|_______|
                                                   |       |____|
                                                   |______|

pubbenivāsaṃ: pubbenivāsa-, N.m.: previous lives. It is a compound of:
    pubba-, Adj.: previous, former. The compound form: pubbe (actually a locative singular form of pubba-).
    nivāsa-, N.m.: abode, living. It is derived from thbe verb root vas- (to dwell) with the prefix ni- (down).
Acc.Sg. = pubbenivāsaṃ.

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

vedi, V.: understood, knows. The verb root is vid- (to know). 3.Sg.act.aor. = vedi.

List of Abbreviations

saggāpāyaṃ: saggāpāya-, N.m.: heaven and hell. It is a compound of:
    sagga-, N.m.: heaven.
    apāya-, N.m.: a bad birth, hell. Lit. separation, loss. It is derived from the verb i-, to go, preceded by the prefix apa- (away from).
Euphonic combination: sagga- + apāya- = saggāpāya-.
Acc.Sg. = saggāpāyaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

passati: sees. The verb root is dis- (to see). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = passati.

atho, part.: and, also, further.

jātikkhayaṃ: jātikkhaya-, N.m.: end of rebirths. It is a compound of:
    jāti-, N.f.: birth, rebirth.
    khaya-, N.m.: destruction, dissolution, end.
Acc.Sg. = jātikkhayaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

patto: patta-, Adj.: reached, attained. It is a p.p. of the verb root āp- (to get, to obtain) with the intensifying prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = patto.

abhiññāvosito: abhiññāvosita-, Adj.: who has attained higher wisdom. It is a compound of:
    abhiññā-, N.f.: higher wisdom. It is derived from the verb root ñā- (to know) with the prefix abhi- (over).
    vosita-, Adj.: attained, accomplished. It is the p.p. of the verb root sā- (to bind) with the prexix ava-/o- (down).
Nom.Sg. = abhiññāvosito.

munī: muni-, N.m.: sage, a wise man (originally one who keeps the vow of silence). Nom.Sg. = muni. The form munī is sometimes used in poetry.

List of Abbreviations

sabbavositavosānaṃ: sabbavositavosāna-, Adj.: who has attained all accomplishments. It is a compound of:
    sabba-, Adj.: all.
    vosita-, Adj.: attained, accomplished. It is the p.p. of the verb root sā- (to bind) with the prexix ava-/o- (down).
    vosāna-, N.n.: achievement, accomplishment. It is derived the same way as the word vosita- just above.
Acc.Sg.m. = sabbavositavosānaṃ.

tam: tad-, Pron.: it. Masculine form: so-, he. Acc.Sg. = tam (him).

ahaṃ, Pron.: I. Nom.Sg. = ahaṃ.

brūmi, V.: [I] say, proclaim. The verb root is brū-. 1.Sg.act.in.pres. = brūmi.

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

List of Abbreviations

    This sentence consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) pubbenivāsaṃ yo vedi saggāpāyaṃ ca passati atho jātikkhayaṃ patto abhiññāvosito munī (who knows his former births and sees both heaven and hell, who has reached the end of rebirths, the sage who has attained higher wisdom). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). There are actually five segments in this sentence which all share this pronoun as the subject:
    a) pubbenivāsaṃ vedi (who knows his former births). The verb is vedi (knows, 3rd person, singular, active, aorist). The object is the compound pubbenivāsaṃ (former births, accusative singular).
    b) saggāpāyaṃ ca passati (and sees both heaven and hell). The verb is passati (sees, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the compound saggāpāyaṃ (heaven and hell, accusative singular). The segment is connected to the previous one by the conjunction ca (and).
    c) atho jātikkhayaṃ patto (who has reached the end of rebirths). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the past participle patto (has reached, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the compound jātikkhayaṃ (end of rebirths, accusative singular). The segment is introduced by the particle atho (further).
    d) abhiññāvosito (who has attained higher wisdom). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the compound abhiññāvosito (who has attained higher wisdom, nominative singular).
    e) munī (sage). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be." The object is the noun munī (sage, nominative singular).
    2) sabbavositavosānaṃ tam ahaṃ brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ (one who has attained all accomplishments - him do I call a Brahmin). The subject of this sentence is the pronoun ahaṃ (I, nominative singular). The verb is brūmi ([I] say, 1st person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun brāhmaṇaṃ (Brahmin, accusative singular). It has two attributes, the pronoun tam (him, accusative singular) and the compound sabbavositavosānaṃ (one who has attained all accomplishments, accusative singular).

    The Buddha once suffered from some illness and asked a layman named Devahita for some water. Devahita was pleased and also sent some molasses. The Buddha had taken a bath and ate he molasses and felt better.
    Devahita then came to visit the Buddha to ask an offering made to whom gives more benefit. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that the offering made to one who has given up all evil gives the most benefit.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

pubbenivāsaṃ
pubbe
nivāsaṃ
yo
vedi
saggāpāyaṃ
sagga
apāyaṃ
ca
passati
atho
jātikkhayaṃ
jāti
khayaṃ
patto
abhiññāvosito
abhiññā
vosito
munī
sabbavositavosānaṃ
sabba
vosita
vosānaṃ
tam
ahaṃ
brūmi
brāhmaṇaṃ