A wise one should cleanse oneself of impurities, gradually,
little by little, moment by moment - just like a smith does with silver.

anupubbena  medhāvī thokaṃ thokaṃ khaṇe   khaṇe
|                         |            |            |         |            |
Adv.               N.m.     Adv.      Adv.   N.m.     N.m.
|                   Nom.Sg.     |_______|     Loc.Sg. Loc.Sg.
|                         |                  |                |_______|
|______________|__________|____________|___________________I.
                          |__________________________________________II.

List of Abbreviations

kammāro rajatassa iva  niddhame malam   attano
|                    |         |          |            |            |
N.m.          N.n.    part.   V.act.     N.n.     Pron.
Nom.Sg.  Gen.Sg.    |    3.Sg.opt. Acc.Sg. Gen.Sg.
|___________|         |          |            |_______|
           |__________|          |__________|
I.__________|________________|
II._________|_______|
          |_____|

anupubbena, Adv.: gradually, by and by. It is derived from the word anupubba-, Adj.: successive, gradual. Ins.Sg. = anupubbena. Here as an Adv.

medhāvī: medhāvin-, N.m.: intelligent person, wise one. Voc.Pl. = medhāvī.

thokaṃ, Adv.: a little. It is derived from the word thoka-, Adj.: little, small. Acc.Sg. = thokaṃ. Here as an Adv.

thokaṃ: see above. The repetition thokaṃ thokaṃ means "little by little".

khaṇe: khaṇa-, N.m.: moment, while. Loc.Sg. = khaṇe.

khaṇe: see above. The repetition khaṇe khaṇe means "moment by moment", "from time to time".

List of Abbreviations

kammāro: kammāra-, N.m.: smith, metal worker. Nom.Sg. = kammāro.

rajatassa: rajata-, N.n.: silver. Gen.Sg. = rajatassa.

iva, part.: like, as (another, more often used form of this word is va).
Euphonic combination: rajatassa + iva = rajatasseva.

niddhame, V.: would remove, cleanse, blow off. The verb root is dham- (to blow) with the prefix ni- (away, off). 3.Sg.act.opt. = niddhame.

malam: mala-, N.n.: impurity, stain, dirt. Acc.Sg. = malam.

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

List of Abbreviations

    The subject of this sentence is the noun medhāvī (wise man, nominative singular). The verb is nidhamme ([he] should cleanse, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It has three attributes, the adverbs anupubbena (gradually) and thokaṃ thokaṃ (little by little) and the two-noun phrase khaṇe khaṇe (moment by moment, both in locative singular). The object is the noun malam (impurity, accusative singular), with its attribute, the noun/pronoun attano (of oneself, genitive singular). There is a dependent clause, kammāro rajatasseva (just like a smith [does] with silver). The subject is the noun kammāro (smith, nominative singular). The object is the noun rajatassa (of silver, genitive singular). The particle iva (like, as) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    Once a brahmin saw a group of monks preparing to enter the city for almsfood. They were rearranging their robes in order to go to the city. The brahmin saw that the robes touched the ground and got wet because of dew. So he cleared that place of grass. The next day he saw that the ground is dirty and it soiled the robes. So he covered the place with sand. During the next few days he saw that when the sun is shining the monks sweat and when it rains, they get wet. Therefore he built a shelter at that place.
    When it was ready, the brahmin invited the Buddha and monks for an almsfood. He then explained how he performed this good deed gradually. The Buddha replied him with this verse, saying that one should use every little opportunity to perform good deeds and cleanse one's mind of impurities.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

anupubbena
medhāvī
thokaṃ
khaṇe
kammāro
rajatassa
iva
niddhame
malam
attano