The good ones shine from afar, like a snowy mountain.
The bad ones are unseen, like arrows shot at night.

dūre         santo   pakāsenti  himavanto  va    pabbato
|                  |              |               |           |          |
Adj.       Adj.m.  V.act.caus.  Adj.m.    part.    N.m.
Loc.Sg. Nom.Pl.  3.Pl.pres.  Nom.Sg.      |    Nom.Sg.
|__________|________|               |______|_____|
         |_____|                                   |___|
              |________________________|

List of Abbreviations

asanto    ettha  na    dissanti  rattiṃ  khittā      yathā        sarā
|                |       |          |           |          |             |              |
Adj.m.   Adv. neg.  V.pas.in. Adv.   Adj.m.  Rel.Adv.    N.m.
Nom.Pl.    |       |    3.Pl.pres.    |     Nom.Pl.       |        Nom.Pl.
|                |       |______|          |______|             |              |
|                |_______|                      |__________|________|
|_____________|                                     |_____|
           |_______________________________|

dūre: dūra-, Adj.: far, distant. Loc.Sg. = dūre.

santo: sant-, Adj.: real, good, true. It is an a.pr.p. of the verb root as- (to be). Thus sant- means literally means "existing", "being". Nom.Pl.m. = santo.

pakāsenti, V.: shine. The verb root is kās- (to shine) with the prefix pa- (strengthening). 3.Pl.act.caus.pres. = pakāsenti.

himavanto: himavant-, Adj.: snowy. Nom.Sg. = himavanto.

va, part.: as, like.

pabbato: pabbata-, N.m.: mountain. Nom.Sg. = pabbato.

asanto: asant-, Adj.: bad, unreal, untrue. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) active present participle sant- (good, true, real). Nom.Pl.m. = asanto.

List of Abbreviations

ettha: Adv.: here, in this world.
Euphonic combination: asanto + ettha = asantettha.

na, neg.: not.

dissanti, V.: are seen, appear. The verb root is das- (to see). 3.Pl.pas.in.pres. = dissanti.

rattiṃ, Adv.: at night, by night. It is derived from the word ratti-, N.f.: night.

khittā: khitta-, Adj.: thrown, cast. It is a p.p. of the verb khip- (to throw, to cast). Nom.Pl.m. = khittā.

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

sarā: sara-, N.m.: arrow. Nom.Pl. = sarā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) dūre santo pakāsenti himavanto va pabbato (the good ones shine from afar, like a snowy mountain). This can be analysed into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
    a) dūre santo pakāsenti (the good ones shine from afar). The subject is the active present participle santo (good ones, nominative plural). The verb is pakāsenti (3^rd person, plural, active, causative, present tense). It has an attribute, the adjective dūre (far, locative singular).
    b) himavanto va pabbato (like a snowy mountain). The subject is the noun pabbato (mountain, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective himavanto (snowy, nominative singular). The particle va (like) connects the clause to the main sentence.
    2) asantettha na dissanti rattiṃ khittā yathā sarā (the bad ones are unseen, like arrows shot at night). This can be further divided into the main sentence a) and the dependent clause b):
    a) asantettha na dissanti (the bad ones are unseen). The subject is the active present participle asanto (bad ones, nominative plural). The verb is dissanti (are seen, 3rs person, plural, passive, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the adverb ettha (here).
    b) rattiṃ khittā yathā sarā (like arrows shot at night). The subject is the noun sarā (arrows, nominative plural). It has an attribute, the past participle khittā (released, shot, nominative plural) with its attribute, the adverb rattiṃ (at night). The relative adverb yathā (like) connects the clause to the main sentence.

    Anātha Piṇḍika and Ugga both studied under the same teacher while they were young. Later Anātha Piṇḍika had a daughter and Ugga had a son. When the children grew up, their parents arranged their marriage. The daughter of Anātha Piṇḍika, named Cūla Subhaddā went to live with her husband and parents-in-law.
    Ugga and his family were not followers of the Buddha, but they were disciples of different ascetic school (called "naked ascetics", because the monks did not wear any clothes). Cūla Subhaddā told her mother-in-law about the Buddha and she was anxious to see him. She agreed to invite the Buddha for the almsfood the next day. Because the Jetavana monastery was far away, Cūla Subhaddā made the invitation only with her heart. But the Buddha knew and accepted the invitation.
    At that day, Anātha Piṇḍika went to the monastery and invited the Buddha to have almsfood in his house the next day. But the Buddha replied that he had already accepted Cūla Subhaddā's invitation. Anātha Piṇḍika asked how was it possible if his daughter lived so far away. The Buddha replied with this verse, saying that the good ones can be seen and heard from far away.
    The next day, the Buddha with many monks went to the house of Ugga. After the meal, he delivered a discourse. The whole Ugga's family became followers of the Buddha.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

dūre
santo
pakāsenti
himavanto
va
pabbato
asanto
ettha
na
dissanti
rattiṃ
khittā
yathā
sarā