Meditate, o monk! Don't be negligent!
Let your mind not wander in the five strands of sensual pleasures.
Don't negligently swallow the metal ball.
When you are burning, don't lament, "This is suffering!"

jhāya      bhikkhu mā   pamādo
|                    |        |          |
V.act.        N.m.   neg.   N.m.
2.Sg.imp. Voc.Sg.   |    Nom.Sg.
|___________|        |______|

List of Abbreviations

mā      te      kāma+guṇe   bhamassu  cittaṃ
|           |           |         |             |             |
neg. Pron.m. N.m.  N.m.    V.med.      N.n.
|       Gen.Sg.    |    Loc.Sg. 2.Sg.imp. Nom.Sg.
|           |           |_____|             |             |
|           |_________|__________|_______|
|_______________|__________|       |
             |________|                         |
                    |__________________|

List of Abbreviations

mā  loha+guḷaṃ      gilī      pamatto
|         |         |            |             |
neg. N.n.  N.m.     V.act.     Adj.m.
|         |    Acc.Sg. 2.Sg.aor. Nom.Sg.
|         |_____|            |             |
|________|_________|             |
       |____|                              |
           |___________________|

List of Abbreviations

mā    kandi   dukkham    idaṃ       ti ḍayhamāno
|            |             |              |          |         |
neg.  V.act.       N.n.     Pron.n.  part.  Adj.m.
|      2.Sg.aor. Nom.Sg. Nom.Sg.    |    Nom.Sg.
|_______|            |________|          |         |
       |                           |_________|         |
       |____________________|                 |
                       |_____________________|

jhāya, V.: meditate. The verb root is jhe- (to meditate). 2.Sg.act.imp. = jhāya.

bhikkhu: bhikkhu-, N.m.: a (Buddhist) monk. Voc.Sg. = bhikkhu.

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

pamādo: pamāda-, N.m.: negligence. Nom.Sg. = pamādo.

mā: see above.

te: tvaṃ-, Pron.: you. Gen.Sg. = te.

List of Abbreviations

kāmaguṇe: kāmaguṇa-, N.m.: lit. "qualities of sensual pleasures", the five strands of sensual pleasures (see commentary). It is a compound of:
    kāma-, N.m.: pleasure, enjoyment, sense-desire.
    guṇa-, N.m.: quality, constituent, characteristic.
Loc.Sg. = kāmaguṇe.

bhamassu, V.: whirl about, roam. The verb root is bham-. 2.Sg.med.imp. = bhamassu. Here we would rather expect the third person instead of the second person. This word is fairly controversial.

cittaṃ: citta-, N.n.: mind. Nom.Sg. = cittaṃ.

mā: see above.

lohaguḷaṃ: lohaguḷa-, N.m.: metal ball. It is a compound of:
    loha-, N.n.: metal, usually copper.
    guḷa-, N.m.: ball.
Acc.Sg. = lohaguḷaṃ.

List of Abbreviations

gilī, V.: swallow, devour. The verb root is gil-. 2.Sg.act.aor. = gilī.

pamatto: pamatta-, Adj.: negligent, careless. It is a p.p. of the verb root is mad- (to be intoxicated) with the strengthening prefix pa-. Nom.Sg.m. = pamatto.

mā: see above.

kandi, V.: cry, lament. The verb root is kand-. 2.Sg.act.aor. = kandi.

dukkham: dukkha-, N.n.: suffering. Nom.Sg. = dukkham.

idaṃ: idaṃ-, Pron.: this. Nom.Sg.n. = idaṃ.

ti, part.: a particle, symbolizing the end of direct speech. In English this is expressed by quotation marks. Sometimes it is written as iti.

ḍayhamāno: ḍayhamāna-, Adj.: burning, being burned. It is an p.pr.p. of the verb root ḍah- (or dah-), to burn. Nom.Sg.m. = ḍayhamāno.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of five syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) jhāya bhikkhu (meditate, o monk). The subject is the noun bhikkhu (monk, vocative singular). The verb is jhāya (meditate, 2^nd person, singular, active, imperative).
    2) mā pamādo (don't be negligent). The verb is omitted, implying here probably some form of a verb "to be". It is negated by the negative particle mā (not). The object is the noun pamādo (negligence, nominative singular).
    3) mā te kāmaguṇe bhamassu cittaṃ (let your mind not wander in the five strands of sensual pleasures). The subject is the noun cittaṃ (mind, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun te (your, genitive singular). The verb is bhamassu (let wander, 2^nd person, singular, medium, imperative). It is negated by the negative particle mā (not). The object is the compound kāmaguṇe (in the five strands of sensual pleasures, locative singular).
    4) mā lohaguḷaṃ gilī pamatto (don't negligently swallow the metal ball). The subject is the past participle pamatto (negligent, nominative singular). The verb is gilī (swallow, 2^nd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle mā (not). The object is the compound lohaguḷaṃ (metal ball, accusative singular).
    5) mā kandi dukkham idaṃ ti ḍayhamāno (when you are burning, don't lament, "This is suffering!"). The subject is the passive present participle ḍayhamāno (being burned, nominative singular). The verb is kandi (lament, 2^nd person, singular, active, aorist). It is negated by the negative particle mā (not). The object is the noun dukkham (suffering, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the pronoun idaṃ (this, nominative singular). The object is modified by the particle ti (end of the direct speech).

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the three previous verses (DhP 368 - DhP 370) and for the following five verses (DhP 372 - DhP 376).
    The five strands of sensual pleasures are all the pleasures, which can be enjoyed by any of the five senses. These pleasures are what most of the people strive for in this world and also in the next existence. For a follower of the Buddha they are obstacles on his path to the Awakenment and they are to be eradicated if we want to achieve any progress at all.
    The metal ball and burning refers to suffering that will surely follow the enjoyment of the sensual pleasures. Then it will be late to cry. Therefore we should diligently meditate and restrain our mind, so that it will not seek for the pleasures.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

jhāya
bhikkhu
mā
pamādo
te
kāmaguṇe
kāma
guṇe
bhamassu
cittaṃ
lohaguḷaṃ
loha
guḷaṃ
gilī
pamatto
kandi
dukkham
idaṃ
ti
ḍayhamāno