Just like a border city is guarded within and without,
so you should protect yourself. Let no moment escape you.
Those who let the right moment go by grieve, consigned to hell.

nagaraṃ    yathā  paccantaṃ  guttaṃ santara+bāhiraṃ
|                   |             |              |           |            |
N.n.       Rel.Adv.   Adj.n.      Adj.n.   Adj.     Adj.n.
Nom.Sg.       |       Nom.Sg.  Nom.Sg.    |      Nom.Sg.
|___________|_______|              |          |_______|
                    |       |                    |__________|
                    |       |________________|
                    |____________|
                               |________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

evaṃ  gopetha  attānaṃ   khaṇo      vo      mā  upaccagā
|              |             |             |            |         |          |
Adv.    V.act.     N.m.      N.m.   Pron.m. neg.   V.act.
|         2.Pl.opt. Acc.Sg. Nom.Sg. Gen.Pl.    |    3.Sg.aor.
|              |_______|              |            |        |______|
|____________|                    |            |_______|
______|                               |___________|

List of Abbreviations

khaṇa+atītā     hi     socanti nirayamhi samappitā
|             |         |           |             |              |
N.m. Adj.m.  part.  V.act.in.   N.m.       Adj.m.
|       Nom.Pl.   |     3.Pl.pres. Loc.Sg.   Nom.Pl.
|_______|         |______|              |________|
       |____________|_______________|
                  |______|

nagaraṃ: nagara-, N.n.: city, town. Nom.Sg. = nagaraṃ.

yathā, Rel.Adv.: as, just like.

paccantaṃ: paccanta-, Adj.: bordering, on the border. It is derived from the word anta-, N.n. (end) with the prefix paṭi- (at, towards). Nom.Sg.n. = paccantaṃ.

guttaṃ: gutta-, Adj.: protected. It is a p.p. of the verb root gup- (to protect). Nom.Sg.n. = guttaṃ.

santarabāhiraṃ: santarabāhira-, Adj.: within and without, in and out. It is a compound of:
    santara-, Adj.: inside, internal.
    bāhira-, Adj.: external.
Nom.Sg.n. = santarabāhiraṃ.

evaṃ, Adv.: thus, in this way.

List of Abbreviations

gopetha, V.: [you should] watch, guard, protect. The verb root is gup-. 2.Pl.act.opt. = gopetha.

attānaṃ: attan-, N.m.: self. Acc.Sg. = attānaṃ.

khaṇo: khaṇa-, N.m.: moment, while. Nom.Sg. = khaṇo.

vo: vayam-, Pron.: you. Gen.Pl. = vo (to you).

mā, neg.: not, do not. Used with verbs in imperative and aorist instead of the more usual
negative particle na.

upaccagā, V.: escape, pass, go by. The verb root is gam- (to go) with the prefixes upa- (near) and ati- (by, beyond). 3.Sg.act.aor. = upaccagā.

List of Abbreviations

khaṇātītā: khaṇātīta-, Adj.: one who let the [right] moment go by. It is a compound of:
    khaṇa-, N.m.: moment, while.
    atīta-, Adj.: past, passed, gone by. It is a p.p. of the verb root i- (to go) with the prefix ati- (over).
Euphonic combination: khaṇa- + atīta- = khaṇātīta-.
Nom.Pl.m. = khaṇātītā.

hi, part.: indeed.

socanti, V.: to mourn, to grieve. The verb root is suc-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = socanti.

nirayamhi: niraya-, N.m.: hell. Loc.Sg. = nirayamhi.

samappitā: samappita-, Adj.: consigned to, gone to. It is a p.p. of the verb root ap- (to approach) with the prefix sam- (together).

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) nagaraṃ yathā paccantaṃ guttaṃ santarabāhiraṃ evaṃ gopetha attānaṃ (just like a border city is guarded within and without, so you should protect yourself). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) nagaraṃ yathā paccantaṃ guttaṃ santarabāhiraṃ (just like a border city is guarded within and without). The subject is the noun nagaraṃ (city, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the adjective paccantaṃ (border, nominative singular). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". It has an attribute, the past participle guttaṃ (protected, nominative singular) with its attribute, the adjective compound santarabāhiraṃ (within and without, nominative singular). The relative adverb yathā (just like) connects the sentence to the following one.
    b) evaṃ gopetha attānaṃ (so you should protect yourself). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the second person plural pronoun. The verb is gopetha (you should protect, 2^nd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the noun/pronoun attānaṃ (oneself, accusative singular). The adverb evaṃ (thus, so) connects the sentence to the previous one.
    2) khaṇo vo mā upaccagā (let no moment escape you). The subject is the noun khaṇo (moment, nominative singular). The verb is upaccagā (let go by, 3^rd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle mā (do not). The verb has an attribute, the personal pronoun vo (you, genitive plural).
    3) khaṇātītā hi socanti nirayamhi samappitā (those who let the [right] moment go by grieve, consigned to hell). The subject is the adjective compound khaṇātītā (those who let the moment go by, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the past participle samappitā (consigned to, nominative plural) with its attribute, the noun nirayamhi (to hell, locative singular). The verb is socanti (grieve, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The particle hi (indeed) serves mainly for metrical purposes.

    Some monks were staying at the border city. At the beginning the people of the city took good care of them and provided them with all the necessities. But later some bandits attacked the city, plundered it and took many citizens away. As a result, the city had to be rebuilt and the people did not have enough to look after the monks as much as before.
    After some time, the monks went to see the Buddha and told him the story. The Buddha told them they should not be greedy and be satisfied with a little. He further admonished them with this verse, saying that just like the citizens guarded their city, so a monk should be always on guard and practice earnestly.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

nagaraṃ
yathā
paccantaṃ
guttaṃ
santarabāhiraṃ
santara
bāhiraṃ
evaṃ
gopetha
attānaṃ
khaṇo
vo
mā
upaccagā
khaṇātītā
khaṇa
atītā
hi
socanti
nirayamhi
samappitā