Possessions hurt the stupid, but not those who are in search for the opposite shore of suffering.
With his thirst for possessions the fool hurts the others as well as himself.

hananti     bhogā dummedhaṃ no   ca    pāra+gavesino
|                   |             |             |      |        |           |
V.act.in.    N.m.     Adj.m.     neg. conj. N.n.    Adj.m.
3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Acc.Sg.       |____|       |       Acc.Pl.
|___________|_______|                |           |_______|
           |_____|                             |__________|

List of Abbreviations

bhoga+taṇhāya  dummedho  hanti        aññe   eva attānaṃ
|                 |              |             |              |         |         |
N.m.       N.f.        Adj.m.   V.act.in.   Adj.m. part.  N.m.
|            Ins.Sg.    Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.pres. Acc.Pl.    |    Acc.Sg.
|_________|               |             |              |         |_____|
        |_____________|_______|               |________|
                                |      |_________________|
                                |____________|

hananti, V.: hurt, kill. The verb root is han-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = hananti.

bhogā: bhoga-, N.m.: possession, wealth. Nom.Pl. = bhogā.

dummedhaṃ: dummedha-, Adj.: stupid. It is derived from the word medhā-, N.f.: wisdom, intelligence, by adding the prefix du- (lacking something, away from). The double m is due to the euphonic combination (du- + medha- = dummedha-). Acc.Sg.m. = dummedhaṃ.

no, neg.: not. It is the particle na (not), strengthened by adding the particle u.
Euphonic combination: na + u = no.

ca, conj.: and.

pāragavesino: pāragavesin-, Adj.: one looking for the opposite shore [of suffering]. It is a compound of:
    pāra-, N.n.: the opposite shore, the other side.
    gavesin-, Adj.: seeking, striving after, looking for.
Acc.Pl.m. = pāragavesino.

List of Abbreviations

bhogataṇhāya: bhogataṇhā-, N.f.: thirst for [worldly] possessions. It is a compound of:
    bhoga-, N.m.: possession, wealth.
    taṇhā-, N.f.: thirst.
Ins.Sg. = bhogataṇhāya.

dummedho: dummedha-, Adj.: see above. Nom.Sg.m. = dummedho.

hanti, V.: hurts, kills. The verb root is han-. 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = hanti.

aññe: añña-, Adj.: other. Acc.Pl.m.: aññe.

eva, part.: just, even.
Euphonic combination: aññe + eva = aññeva.

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

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) hananti bhogā dummedhaṃ (possessions hurt the stupid). The subject is the noun bhogā (possessions, nominative plural). The verb is hananti (hurt, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the adjective dummedhaṃ (the stupid, accusative singular).
    2) no ca pāragavesino (not those who are in search for the opposite shore of suffering). The subject is omitted, implying the subject from the previous sentence. The verb is omitted, implying the verb from the previous sentence. It is negated by the negative particle no (not). The object is the compound pāragavesino (those in search of the opposite shore, accusative plural). The conjunction ca (and) serves mainly for metrical purposes.
    3) bhogataṇhāya dummedho hanti aññeva attānaṃ (with his thirst for possessions the fool hurts the others as well as himself). The subject is the adjective dummedho (the stupid, nominative singular). The verb is hanti (hurts, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It has an attribute, the compound bhogataṇhāya (by thirst for possessions, instrumental singular). There are two objects, the adjective aññe (others, accusative plural) and the noun attānaṃ (oneself, accusative singular). They are connected by the particle eva (even).

    King of Kosala came to see the Buddha once and told him that a rich old man died that day in
Sāvatthi. He did not leave any heirs and so all his wealth was taken to the state treasury. He also related that the man was very stingy and did not give anything in charity.
    The Buddha then revealed that this man was also very rich in one of his past existences. Once he offered some almsfood to a monk but then in his stinginess regretted his deed. His brother who was also very rich had a son and this man killed the young boy in order to inherit all his brother's wealth. Because of that these deeds he suffered for a long time. In this present existence he did nothing to accumulate merit and therefore missed a good opportunity to do good with his wealth.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

hananti
bhogā
dummedhaṃ
no
ca
pāragavesino
pāra
gavesino
bhogataṇhāya
bhoga
taṇhāya
dummedho
hanti
aññe
eva
attānaṃ