Do not say anything harsh, those spoken to might reply to that.
Angry talk is painful, retribution might be attached to it.

mā   avoca  pharusaṃ  kañci     vuttā paṭivadeyyu  taṃ
|           |             |            |            |            |             |
neg.  V.act.     Adj.f.   Pron.f.   Adj.m.   V.act.     Pron.f.
|      2.Sg.aor. Acc.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. 3.Pl.opt.  Acc.Sg.
|______|             |_______|            |            |_______|
     |_______________|                  |__________|

List of Abbreviations

dukkhā     hi sārambha+kathā  paṭi+daṇḍā  phuseyyu    taṃ
|                |        |             |         |        |             |            |
Adj.f.     part.   N.m.      N.f.    Pref. N.m.     V.act.    Pron.f.
Nom.Sg.    |        |       Nom.Sg.   |   Nom.Pl. 3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg.
|                |        |_______|          |____|             |_______|
|_________|________|                     |_____________|

mā, neg.: not, do not. Used with verbs in imperative instead of the more usual negative particle na.

avoca, V.: said. The verb root is vac- (to say). 2.Sg.act.aor. = avoca.
Although the meaning of this word is [you] said, in connection with the negative particle mā it is used in imperative sense: mā avoca = dontt say.
Euphonic combination: mā+avoca = māvoca.

pharusaṃ: pharusa-, Adj.: harsh, unkind, rough. Acc.Sg.f. = pharusaṃ.

kañci: kiñci-, Pron.: whatever. Acc.Sg.f. = kañci.

vuttā: vutta-, Adj.: spoken, said. It is a p.p. of the verb root vac- (to say, to speak). Nom.Pl.m. = vuttā.

paṭivadeyyu, V.: might reply. The verb root is vad- (to say, to speak) with the prefix paṭi- (back). 3.Pl.act.opt. = paṭivadeyyu.

taṃ: Pron. tad-, that. Acc.Sg.f. = taṃ.

List of Abbreviations

dukkhā: dukkha-, Adj.: painful, unpleasant, causing suffering. Nom.Sg.f. = dukkhā.

hi, part.: indeed.

sārambhakathā: sārambhakathā-, N.f.: angry talk, haughty talk. It is a compound of:
    sārambha-, N.m.: anger.
    kathā-, N.f.: talk, speech.
Nom.Sg. = sārambhakathā.

paṭidaṇḍā: paṭidaṇḍa-, N.m.: retaliation, retribution. It is a compound of:
    paṭi-, Pref.: against, back.
    daṇḍa-, N.m.: stick, club, punishment.
Nom.Pl. = paṭidaṇḍā.

phuseyyu, V.: might touch, might reach, might befall. The verb root is phus- (to touch).
3.Pl.act.opt. = phuseyyu.

taṃ: Pron. tad-, that. Acc.Sg.f. = taṃ.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) māvoca pharusaṃ kañci (do not say anything harsh). The subject of this sentence is omitted. The verb implies the second person singular pronoun. The verb is avoca ([you] said, 3^rd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle mā (do not). These two words form a phrase "do not say". The object is the adjective pharusaṃ (harsh, accusative singular) with its attribute, the pronoun kañci (anything, accusative singular).
    2) vuttā paṭivadeyyu taṃ (those spoken to might reply to that). The subject of this sentence is the past participle vuttā (spoken, nominative plural). The verb is paṭivadeyyu (might reply, 3^rd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the pronoun taṃ (to that, accusative singular).
    3) dukkhā hi sārambhakathā (angry talk is painful). The subject is the compound sārambhakathā (angry talk, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective dukkhā (painful, nominative singular). The sentence is stressed by the particle hi (indeed) which serves manily for metrical purposes.
    4) paṭidaṇḍā phuseyyu taṃ (retribution might be attached to it). The subject is the compound paṭidaṇḍā (retributions, nominative plural). The verb is phuseyyu (might be attached, 3^rd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the pronoun taṃ (to it, accusative singular).

    There was a monk named Kundadhāna. From the day he became a monk, others saw a female form always following him everywhere. But he himself did not see anything.
    Once he went out on to gather alms food and people offered him two portions of food, saying that one was for him and the other for his friend. Then they reported to the king that one of the monks seems to have a girlfriend. The king Pasenadi started to investigate the matter.
    When the king was in the room with the monk, the female form was not present. The monk himself also professed his innocence. When the king sent him out of the room, the female form suddenly appeared close to him. The king realized that the woman was not real and the monk was really innocent. So he invited him for almsfood.
    The other monks were not happy and started to scold Kundadhāna, saying that in fact he had a girlfriend somewhere and that he had no morals. Kundadhāna got angry and retorted with his own accusations.
    The Buddha then admonished him and told him this verse. He further explained, that in his previous life Kundadhāna was a deity who wanted to create discord between two monks who very good friends. He would assume the form of a woman and follow closely one of them, thus hoping to stop their friendship. For that deed a female form was now following him.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

mā
avoca
pharusaṃ
kañci
vuttā
paṭivadeyyu
taṃ
dukkhā
hi
sārambhakathā
sārambha
kathā
paṭidaṇḍā
paṭi
daṇḍā
phuseyyu