People, driven by fear, go for the refuge to many places:
mountains, forests, gardens, trees and shrines.

bahuṃ ve saraṇaṃ    yanti   pabbatāni vanāni    ca
|            |        |             |             |            |          |
Adv.   part.  N.n.    V.act.in.    N.n.       N.n.    conj.
|            |   Acc.Sg. 3.Pl.pres. Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.    |
|_______|       |             |              |______|______|________________I.
       |             |_______|___________|
       |_______________|        |
                   |_____________|
                              |_______________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

ārāma+rukkha+cetyāni  manussā bhaya+tajjitā
|                |           |             |           |          |
N.m.      N.m.     N.n.      N.m.     N.n.   Adj.m.
|                |       Acc.Pl. Nom.Pl.     |     Nom.Pl.
|_________|______|             |           |______|
I.___|                                  |_________|
II.__________________________|

bahuṃ: bahu-, Adj.: many, much, a lot. Here as an Adv.: much, a lot.

ve, part.: indeed.

saraṇaṃ: saraṇa-, N.n.: refuge. Acc.Sg.: saraṇaṃ.

yanti, V.: go. The verb root is yā-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = yanti.

pabbatāni: pabbata-, N.n.: mountain. Usually a N.m., but here as a neuter. Acc.Pl. = pabbatāni.

vanāni: vana-, N.n.: forest. Acc.Pl. = vanāni.

List of Abbreviations

ca, conj.: and.

ārāmarukkhacetyāni: ārāmarukkhacetya-, N.n.: parks, trees and shrines. It is a compound of:
    ārāma-, N.m.: park, garden.
     rukkha-, N.m.: tree.
     cetya-, N.n.: shrine.
Acc.Pl. = ārāmarukkhacetyāni.

manussā: manussa-, N.m.: human being, person, man. Nom.Pl. = manussā.

bhayatajjitā: bhayatajjita-, Adj.: driven by fear. It is a compound of:
    bhaya-, N.n.: fear, fright.
    tajjita-, Adj.: moved, spurred, driven. It is a p.p. of the verb root taj- (to frighten, to drive).
Nom.Pl.m. = bhayatajjitā.

List of Abbreviations

    The subject of this sentence is the noun manussā (people, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the adjective compound bhayatajjitā (driven by fear, nominative plural). The verb is yanti (go, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adverb bahuṃ (a lot). The particle ve (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes. The object is the noun saraṇaṃ (for the refuge, accusative singular). It has three attributes: the noun pabbatāni (to mountains, accusative plural), the noun vanāni (to forests, accusative plural) and the compound ārāmarukkhacetyāni (to gardens, trees and shrines, accusative plural). The word vanāni is connected to the previous attribute by the conjunction ca (and).

    When the father of the king Pasenadi of Kosala, Mahā Kosala, was reigning, he had a head priest, named Aggidatta. When Mahā Kosala died, Aggidatta gave up his position and wealth and became an ascetic. He had many followers and lived on the border of Anga, Magadha and Kuru countries. His teaching to the people was: pay homage to forests, mountains, trees and shrines. By doing so, you will be freed from all evils.
    Once the Buddha sent Venerable Moggallāna to teach the Dharma to Aggidatta. When Moggallāna arrived, he asked for a place to spend the night. They refused to let him stay with them. Close to that place was a cave where lived a very powerful Nāga and Aggidatta sent Moggallāna there, thinking Nāga would kill him. Moggallāna and the Nāga had a duel, but at the end the Nāga was subdued and spread his hood over Moggallāna's head, showing him respect.
    In the morning, Aggidatta and his pupils went to the cave to find out what happened. When they saw the Nāga holding his head over Moggallāna, they were surprised and paid respects to Moggallāna.
    When the Buddha arrived there, Moggallāna got up from his seat and paid homage to the Buddha, saying that he was only a disciple, the Buddha was his teacher. When Aggidatta heard that, his respect for the Buddha was only greater. The Buddha admonished them with this verse (and following ones, DhP 189, DhP 190, DhP 191, DhP 192), saying that trees and mountains are not a real refuge; only the Three Gems (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) are the highest refuge.
    Aggidatta and his pupils attained Arahantship immediately. They all became monks. Later, lay disciples of Aggidatta came to that place and were confused. Who was more powerful? Aggidatta or the Buddha? Aggidatta got up from his seat and paid homage to the Buddha, saying that he was only a humble disciple, the Buddha was the highest teacher.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

bahuṃ
ve
saraṇaṃ
yanti
pabbatāni
vanāni
ca
ārāmarukkhacetyāni
ārāma
rukkha
cetyāni
manussā
bhayatajjitā
bhaya
tajjitā