Be an island unto yourself! Strive quickly; be wise!
Without impurities and clear, you will approach the heavenly place of the Noble Ones.

so             karohi    dīpam   attano  khippaṃ vāyama   paṇḍito    bhava
|                    |            |            |           |             |             |              |
Pron.m.    V.act.      N.m.   Pron.m.  Adv.      V.act.      N.m.      V.act.
Nom.Sg. 2.Sg.imp. Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg.     |       2.Sg.imp. Nom.Sg. 2.Sg.imp.
|                    |            |_______|          |________|            |________|
|                    |__________|
|________________|

List of Abbreviations

niddhanta+malo anaṅgaṇo dibbaṃ ariya+bhūmiṃ upehisi
|                  |           |             |         |           |            |
Adj.       Adj.m.   Adj.m.    Adj.f.  Adj.      N.f.     V.act.
|           Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg. Acc.Sg.   |      Acc.Sg. 2.Sg.fut.
|__________|           |             |         |______|             |
          |___________|             |________|                   |
                     |                              |_______________|
                     |_________________________|

so: tad-, Pron.n.: it. Nom.Sg.m. = so.

karohi, V.: do. The verb root is kar-. 2.Sg.act.imp. = karohi.

dīpam: dīpa-, N.m.: island. Acc.Sg. = dīpam.

attano: attan-, N.m./Pron.: self, oneself. Gen.Sg. = attano.

khippaṃ, Adv.: quickly. It is derived from the word khippa-, Adj.: quick, fast.

vāyama, V.: strive, struggle. The verb root is yam- (to restrain) with the prefixes vi- (intensifying sense) and ā- (to, towards). 2.Sg.act.imp. = vāyama.

paṇḍito: paṇḍita-, N.m.: wise man, learned man. Nom.Sg. = paṇḍito.

bhava, V.: be. The verb root is bhū-. 2.Sg.act.imp. = bhava.

List of Abbreviations

niddhantamalo: niddhantamala-, Adj.: with the impurities removed. It is a compound of:
    niddhanta-, Adj.: removed, cleansed, blown off. It is a p.p. of the verb root dham- (to blow) with the prefix ni- (away, off).
    mala-, N.n.: impurity, stain, dirt.
Nom.Sg.m. = niddhantamalo.

anaṅgaṇo: anaṅgaṇa-, Adj.: clear, without specks. It is the word aṅgaṇa-, N.m.: speck, freckle, with the negative prefix an-. Nom.Sg.m. = anaṅgaṇo.

dibbaṃ: dibba-, Adj.: divine, heavenly. Acc.Sg.f. = dibbaṃ.

ariyabhūmiṃ: ariyabhūmi-, N.f.: good place, place of the Noble Ones. It is a compound of:
    ariya-, Adj.: noble, distinguished, good.
    bhūmi-, N.f.: place, district, region.
Acc.Sg. = ariyabhūmiṃ.

upehisi: [you will] come to, approach. The verb root is i- (to go) with the prefix upa- (near).
2.Sg.act.fut. = upehisi.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) so karohi dīpam attano (be an island unto yourself). The subject is the pronoun so (he, nominative singular). The verb is karohi ([you] do, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). This pattern "You that is he" is not uncommon in Pali texts. The object is the noun dīpam (island, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun/pronoun attano (or oneself, genitive singular).
    2) khippaṃ vāyama (strive quickly). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular. The verb is vāyama (strive, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). It has an attribute, the adverb khippaṃ (quickly).
    3) paṇḍito bhava (be wise). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular. The verb is bhava (be, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative). The object is the noun paṇḍito (a wise man, nominative singular).
    4) niddhantamalo anaṅgaṇo dibbaṃ ariyabhūmiṃ upehisi (without impurities and clear, you will approach the heavenly place of the Noble Ones). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person singular. It has two attributes, the adjectives niddhantamalo (without impurities, nominative singular) and anaṅgaṇo (clear, nominative singular). The verb is upehisi ([you] will approach, 2^nd person, singular, active, future). The object is the compound ariyabhūmiṃ (place of the Noble Ones, accusative singular) with its attribute, the adjective dibbaṃ (heavenly, accusative singular).

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 235) and the following ones (DhP 237, DhP 238).
    We should strive and make the best effort in order to purify our minds and make the best of our lives. By doing this, we will reach "the place of the Noble Ones", the Nirvana, the complete purification of the mind.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

so
karohi
dīpam
attano
khippaṃ
vāyama
paṇḍito
bhava
niddhantamalo
niddhanta
malo
anaṅgaṇo
dibbaṃ
ariyabhūmiṃ
ariya
bhūmiṃ
upehisi