It is difficult to become a monk. It is difficult to enjoy it. Unpleasant and difficult to endure is a life of a householder.
Painful is association with unequal. Wanderer in the round of rebirth is always followed by suffering.
Therefore, do not be a wanderer and do not be followed by suffering.

duppabbajjaṃ durabhiramaṃ durāvāsā    gharā   dukkhā
|                               |                  |              |           |
Adj.n.                  Adj.n.         Adj.m.      N.m.    Adj.m.
Nom.Sg.             Nom.Sg.      Nom.Pl.  Nom.Pl. Nom.Pl.
                                                  |________|______|
                                                         |____|

List of Abbreviations

dukkho asamāna+saṃvāso dukkha+anupatito addhagū
|                 |             |             |             |             |
Adj.m.     Adj.       N.m.      N.n.     Adj.m.      N.m.
Nom.Sg.     |       Nom.Sg.       |      Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.
|                 |_______|              |_______|             |
|_____________|                           |___________|

List of Abbreviations

tasmā   na     ca   addhagū     siyā     na    ca   dukkha+anupatito     siyā
|             |       |          |              |         |       |         |              |             |
Pron.   neg. conj.   N.m.      V.act.   neg. conj.   N.n.      Adj.m.    V.act.
Abl.Sg.   |       |    Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.   |       |         |        Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|             |____|______|_______|         |       |         |________|              |
|                     |     |___|                      |____|_________|____________|
|                     |____|                                  |      |_____|
|                         |                                      |______|
|______________|

duppabbajjaṃ: duppabbajja-, Adj.: difficult to renounce, difficult to go forth. It is derived from the verb pabbajati (to go forth) with the prefix du(p)- (difficult, bad). Nom.Sg.n. = duppabbajjaṃ.

durabhiramaṃ: durabhirama-, Adj.: difficult to delight. It is derive from the verb root ram- (to enjoy, to delight in) = with the prefix abhi- (intensifying) and du(r)- (difficult, bad).
Nom.Sg.n. = durabhiramaṃ.

durāvāsā: durāvāsa-, Adj.: difficult to dwell in, difficult to stay in. It is derived from the verb root vas- (to dwell) with the prefixes ā- (at, in) and du(r)- (difficult, bad). Nom.Pl.m. = durāvāsā.

gharā: ghara-, N.m.: house. Nom.Pl. = gharā.

dukkhā: dukkha-, Adj.: painful, unpleasant, causing suffering. Nom.Pl.m. = dukkhā.

List of Abbreviations

dukkho: dukkha-, Adj.: painful, unpleasant, causing suffering. Nom.Sg.m. = dukkho.

asamānasaṃvāso: asamānasaṃvāsa-, N.m.: company with unequal. It is a compound of:
    asamāna-, Adj.: unequal, different. It is the word samāna-, Adj.: equal, same, even, with the negative prefix a-.
    saṃvāsa-, N.m.: association, company. It is derived from the verb root vas- (to live) with the prefix saṃ- (together).
Nom.Sg. = asamānasaṃvāso.
Euphonic combination: dukkho + asamānasaṃvāso = dukkho 'samānasaṃvāso.

dukkhānupatito: dukkhānupatita-, Adj.: befallen by suffering, affected by suffering. It is a compound of:
    dukkha-, Adj.: see above. As an N.n.: suffering, pain.
    anupatita-, Adj.: befallen, affected with. It is a p.p. of the verb root pat- (to fall) with the prefix anu- (along, with).
Euphonic combination: dukkha- + anupatita- = dukkhānupatita-.
Nom.Sg.m. = dukkhānupatito.

List of Abbreviations

addhagū: addhagū-, N.m.: wanderer, wayfarer, traveler. Nom.Sg. = addhagū.
Euphonic combination: dukkhānupatito + addhagū = dukkhānupatitaddhagū.

tasmā: tad-, Pron.: that. Abl.Sg. = tasmā (therefore, lit. "from that").

na, neg.: not.

ca, conj.: and.

addhagū: see above.
Euphonic combination: ca + addhagū = caddhagū.

List of Abbreviations

siyā, V.: would be. The verb root is as-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = siyā.

na, neg.: not.

ca, conj.: and.

dukkhānupatito: see above.

siyā: see above.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of seven syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) duppabbajjaṃ (it is difficult to become a monk). The subject is the compound duppabbajjaṃ (it is difficult to go forth, nominative singular).
    2) durabhiramaṃ (it is difficult to enjoy it). The subject is the compound durabhiramaṃ (it is difficult to enjoy, nominative singular).
    3) durāvāsā gharā dukkhā (unpleasant and difficult to endure is a life of a householder). The subject is the noun gharā (houses, nominative plural). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". There are two objects, the adjectives durāvāsā (difficult to live in, nominative plural) and dukkhā (painful, nominative plural).
    4) dukkho asamānasaṃvāso (painful is association with unequal). The subject is the compound asamānasaṃvāso (association with unequal, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective dukkho (painful, nominative singular).
    5) dukkhānupatitaddhagū (wanderer in the round of rebirth is always followed by suffering). The subject is the noun addhagū (wanderer, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the compound dukkhānupatito (followed by suffering, nominative singular).
    6) tasmā na caddhagū siyā (therefore, do not be a wanderer). The subject is omitted, the verb implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is siyā (should be, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun addhagū (wanderer, nominative singular). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly metrical purposes. The pronoun tasmā (therefore, lit. "from that", ablative singular) introduces the sentence.
    7) na ca dukkhānupatito siyā (do not be followed by suffering). The subject is omitted, the verb implying the third person singular pronoun. The verb is siyā (should be, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound dukkhānupatito (followed by suffering, nominative singular). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly metrical purposes.

    Once there was a big festival in Vesāli. The city was lit up and full of happy people, everybody was singing and dancing. A young monk in the monastery saw the festival from a distance and felt dissatisfied with his life as a monk. He complained aloud that he has the worst lot in the whole world. At that instant, a guardian spirit appeared and told the monk that as those in hells envy those in heaven, so do people from the city envy the monks in the forest. The monk realized the truth.
    In the morning he told this story to the Buddha, who admonished him with this verse, further adding that the monk should reflect on the impermanence and pain in the lives of all beings.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

duppabbajjaṃ
durabhiramaṃ
durāvāsā
gharā
dukkhā
dukkho
asamānasaṃvāso
asamāna
saṃvāso
dukkhānupatito
dukkha
anupatito
addhagū
tasmā
na
ca
siyā