Patience and forgiveness is the highest ascetic practice.
The Awakened Ones say the Nirvana to be the highest.
A monk does not hurt others.
One, who harms others, is not a monk.

khantī     paramaṃ   tapo      titikkhā
|                    |            |              |
N.f.           Adj.n.     N.n.        N.f.
Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.
|                    |_______|              |
|_______________|___________|
              |_______|

List of Abbreviations

nibbānaṃ paramaṃ  vadanti    buddhā
|                     |              |             |
N.n.           Adj.n.    V.act.in.    N.m.
Acc.Sg.     Acc.Sg.   3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl.
|____________|             |              |
          |______________|              |
                       |_______________|

List of Abbreviations

na     hi   pabbajito para+upaghātī
|         |          |          |           |
neg. part.  Adj.m.   Adj.   Adj.m.
|_____|    Nom.Sg.    |     Nom.Sg.
     |________|          |______|
            |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

samaṇo       hoti      paraṃ  viheṭhayanto
|                    |            |               |
N.m.       V.act.in.   Adj.m.     Adj.m.
Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Sg.   Nom.Sg.
|___________|            |_________|
          |_________________|

khantī: khantī-, N.f.: patience, forbearance, forgiveness. Nom.Sg. = khantī.

paramaṃ: parama-, Adj.: most, highest, absolute. Nom.Sg.n. = paramaṃ.

tapo: tapo-, N.n.: ascetic practice, religious practice. Nom.Sg. = tapo.

titikkhā: titikkhā-, N.f.: endurance, forgiveness. Nom.Sg. = titikkhā.

nibbānaṃ: nibbāna-, N.n.: Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism. Acc.Sg. = nibbānaṃ.

paramaṃ: see above. Acc.Sg. = paramaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

vadanti, V.: say. The verb root is vad- (to say). 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = vadanti.

buddhā: buddha-, Adj.: awakened. It is a p.p. of the verb root budh- (to awaken). As a N.m.: Awakened One, Enlightened One, a being who has attained the Nirvana. Nom.Pl. = buddhā.

na, neg.: not.

hi, part.: indeed.

pabbajito: pabbajita-, Adj.: One who has "gone forth" from home and became a monk. It is a p.p. of the verb pabbajati (to go forth). Nom.Sg. = pabbajito.

List of Abbreviations

parūpaghātī: parūpaghātin-, Adj.: killing others, hurting others. It is a compound of:
    para-, Adj.: different, other.
    upaghātin-, Adj.: hurting, killing. It is derived from the verb root han- (to strike, to beat) with the prefix upa- (on, onto).
Euphonic combination: para- + upaghātin- = parūpaghātin-.
Nom.Sg.m. = parūpaghātī.

samaṇo: samaṇa-, N.m.: a recluse, a wandering ascetic, a monk (not only a Buddhist monk).
Nom.Sg. = samaṇo.

hoti, V. is. The verb root is bhū- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = bhavati or hoti.

paraṃ: para-, Adj.: different, other. Acc.Sg.m. = paraṃ.

viheṭhayanto: viheṭhayant-, Adj.: hurting, oppressing, harming. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root heḷ- (to be hostile) with the prefix vi- (intensifying sense). Nom.Sg.m. = viheṭhayanto.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) khantī paramaṃ tapo titikkhā (patience and forgiveness is the highest ascetic practice). There are two subjects in this sentence, khantī (patience, nominative singular) and titikkhā (forgiveness, nominative singular). The object is the noun tapo (ascetic practice, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective paramaṃ (highest, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be".
    2) nibbānaṃ paramaṃ vadanti buddhā (the Awakened Ones say the Nirvana to be the highest). The subject is the noun buddhā (Awakened Ones, nominative plural). The verb is vadanti (say, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the noun nibbānaṃ (Nirvana, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective paramaṃ (highest, accusative singular).
    3) na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī (a monk does not hurt others). The object is the noun pabbajito (monk, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the adjective parūpaghātī (hurting others, nominative singular). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    4) samaṇo hoti paraṃ viheṭhayanto (one, who harms others, is not a monk). The object is the active present participle viheṭhayanto (harming, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective paraṃ (other, accusative singular). The verb is hoti (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not) from the previous sentence. The object is the noun samaṇo (monk, nominative singular).

    Venerable Ānanda once asked the Buddha if the basic instructions for the behavior of the monks were the same in case of the past Buddhas, or if each Awakened One sets his own rules.
    The Buddha replied with this verse and with the preceding one (DhP 183) and with the following one (DhP 185), saying that they were all the same. He also added that the previous Buddhas uttered these three verses also.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

khantī
paramaṃ
tapo
titikkhā
nibbānaṃ
vadanti
buddhā
na
hi
pabbajito
parūpaghātī
para
upaghātī
samaṇo
hoti
paraṃ
viheṭhayanto