The evil is done by oneself; by oneself one becomes impure.
The evil is undone by oneself; by oneself one becomes pure.
Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another.

attanā  hi     kataṃ    pāpaṃ   attanā  saṅkilissati
|           |           |            |            |             |
N.m.  part.   Adj.n.     N.n.      N.m.   V.act.in.
Ins.Sg.  |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg. 3.Sg.pres.
|______|______|            |            |________|
     |___|                        |
        |_______________|

List of Abbreviations

attanā   akataṃ    pāpaṃ   attanā  va    visujjhati
|                |             |            |        |           |
N.m.     Adj.n.      N.n.      N.m.  part.  V.act.in.
Ins.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Ins.Sg.   |     3.Sg.pres.
|_________|             |           |_____|           |
        |____________|                |_________|

List of Abbreviations

suddhi    asuddhi paccattaṃ na     añño      aññaṃ  visodhaye
|                   |           |           |         |              |             |
N.f.           N.f.     Adv.      neg.  Adj.m.    Adj.m.  V.act.caus.
Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.    |            |    Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.opt.
|___________|          |            |_____|________|_______|
          |___________|                      |       |____|
                                                     |______|

attanā: attan-, N.m.: self. Ins.Sg. = attanā.

hi, part.: indeed.

kataṃ: kata-, Adj.: done. It is a p.p. of the verb kar- (to do). Nom.Sg.n. = kataṃ.

pāpaṃ: pāpa-, Adj.: evil, wrong. As an N.n.: evil, wrong doing. Nom.Sg. = pāpaṃ.

attanā: see above.

saṅkilissati, V.: gets impure, becomes soiled. The verb root is kilis- (to go bad, to get stained, to be impure) with the prefix saṅ- (completely). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = saṅkilissati.

attanā: see above.

List of Abbreviations

akataṃ: akata-, Adj.: not done, undone. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word kata- (see above). Nom.Sg.n. = akataṃ.

pāpaṃ: see above.

attanā: see above.

va: a contracted form of eva, part.: just, only.

visujjhati, V.: becomes cleansed, is purified. The verb root is sudh- (to be clean) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = visujjhati.

suddhi: suddhi-, N.f.: purity, purification. Nom.Sg. = suddhi.

List of Abbreviations

asuddhi: asuddhi-, N.f.: impurity, defilement. It is the word suddhi- (see above) with the negative prefix a-. Nom.Sg. = asuddhi.

paccattaṃ, Adv.: separately, by oneself, individually.

na, neg.: not.

añño: añña-, Adj.: other, different. Nom.Sg.m. = añño.
Euphonic combination: na + añño = n'āñño.

aññaṃ: añña-, Adj.: other, different. Acc.Sg.m. = aññaṃ.

visodhaye, V.: can clean, can purify. The verb root is sudh- (to be clean) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). 3.Sg.act.caus.opt. = visodhaye.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of six syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) attanā hi kataṃ pāpaṃ (the evil is done by oneself). The subject is the noun pāpaṃ (evil, nominative singular). The past participle kataṃ (done, nominative singular) serves as a verb in this sentence. It has an attribute, the noun attanā (by oneself, instrumental singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    2) attanā saṅkilissati (by oneself one becomes impure). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is saṅkilissati (becomes impure, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun attanā (by oneself, instrumental singular).
    3) attanā akataṃ pāpaṃ (the evil is undone by oneself). The subject is the noun pāpaṃ (evil, nominative singular). The past participle akataṃ (un-done, nominative singular) serves as a verb in this sentence. It has an attribute, the noun attanā (by oneself, instrumental singular).
    4) attanā va visujjhati (by oneself one becomes pure). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is visujjhati (becomes pure, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the noun attanā (by oneself, instrumental singular). The particle va (just, only) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    5) suddhi asuddhi paccattaṃ (purity and impurity depend on oneself). There is a double subject in this sentence, the nouns suddhi (purity, nominative singular) and assudhi (impurity, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the adverb paccattaṃ (individually).
    6) n'āñño aññaṃ visodhaye (no one can purify another). The subject is the adjective añño (other, nominative singular). The verb is visodhaye (can purify, 3^rd person, singular, active, causative, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective aññaṃ (other, accusative singular).

    There was a lay disciple named Cūlakāla. Once he spent the night in the monastery, observing the eight precepts and practicing meditation. In the morning he was returning home and met a group of thieves who were being chased by the owners of the stolen goods. The thieves put their loot in front of Cūlakāla and ran away. The owners mistook Cūlakāla for a thief and started to beat him. Some prostitutes, who were on the way to the river, saw the whole incident and told the people Cūlakāla was innocent. The owners let him go.
    When the Buddha was told about this, he replied with this verse and added that Cūlakāla was truly innocent and therefore had nothing to fear.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

attanā
hi
kataṃ
pāpaṃ
saṅkilissati
akataṃ
va
visujjhati
suddhi
asuddhi
paccattaṃ
na
añño
aññam
visodhaye