One should not strike a Brahmin. But a Brahmin should not get angry with the one, who hit him.
Shame to those who hurt Brahmins! More shame to those, who are angry with them!

na brāhmaṇassa pahareyya na    assa   muñcetha  brāhmaṇo
|              |                 |         |        |             |               |
neg.     N.m.         V.act.   neg. Pron.m. V.med.       N.m.
|        Gen.Sg.     3.Sg.opt.    |    Dat.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.  Nom.Sg.
|________|_________|          |____|_______|                |
       |____|                                   |___|                       |
                                                      |______________|

List of Abbreviations

dhī brāhmaṇassa hantāraṃ tato  dhī         yo          assa      muñcati
|               |                 |         |       |            |               |              |
Ind.      N.m.         Adj.m. Adv.  Ind. Rel.Pron.m. Pron.m.  V.act.in.
|         Gen.Sg.      Acc.Sg.    |____|       Nom.Sg.    Dat.Sg.  3.Sg.pres.
|               |_________|             |                 |               |________|
|_____________|                     |                 |_____________|
                                              |________________|

na, neg.: not.

brāhmaṇassa: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Gen.Sg. = brāhmaṇassa.

pahareyya, V.: [one should] strike, beat, hit. The verb root is har- (to take) with the strengthening prefix pa-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = pahareyya.

na, neg.: not.

assa: idam-, Pron.: it. Dat.Sg.m. = assa (him).
Euphonic combination: na + assa = nāssa.

muñcetha, V.: [one should] release, let loose [anger]. The verb root is muc- (to release).
3.Sg.med.opt. = muñcetha.

brāhmaṇo: brāhmaṇa-, N.m.: Brahmin, a holy man. Nom.Sg. = brāhmaṇo.

List of Abbreviations

dhī, Ind.: shame!, an exclamation of reproach and disgust.

brāhmaṇassa: see above.

hantāraṃ: hantar-, Adj.: striker, killer. It is derived from the verb root han- (to strike, to kill). Acc.Sg.m. = hantāraṃ.

tato, Adv.: than that.

dhī: see above.

yo: yad-, Rel.Pron.: that which. Nom.Sg.m. = yo.

assa: see above.
Euphonic combination: yo + assa = yassa.

muñcati, V.: releases, lets loose [anger]. The verb root is muc- (to release). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = muñcati.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na brāhmaṇassa pahareyya (one should not strike a Brahmin). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is pahareyya (one should hit, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun brāhmaṇassa (Brahmin, genitive singular).
    2) nāssa muñcetha brāhmaṇo (but a Brahmin should not get angry with the one, who hit him). The subject is the noun brāhmaṇo (Brahmin, nominative singular). The verb is muñcetha (one should release [anger], 3^rd person, singular, medium, optative). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the pronoun assa (with him, dative singular).
    3) dhī brāhmaṇassa hantāraṃ (shame to those who hurt Brahmins). The subject is the indeclinable dhī (shame!). The verb is omitted, implying the verb "to be". The object is the adjective hantāraṃ (to killer, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the noun brāhmaṇassa (of a Brahmin, genitive singular).
    4) tato dhī yassa muñcati (more shame to those, who are angry with them). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) tato dhī (more shame). The subject is the indeclinable dhī (shame!). It is modified by the adverb tato (more).
    b) yassa muñcati (who is angry with him). The subject is the relative pronoun yo (who, nominative singular). The verb is muñcati (releases [anger], 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). The object is the pronoun assa (with him, dative singular).

    Venerable Sāriputta was famous for his patience and forbearance. Once a certain Brahmin boasted he would provoke Sāriputta to anger. He came to Sāriputta while he was on his almsround and hit him on his back. Sāriputta did not even turn around but calmly continued on his way. The Brahmin felt very ashamed and begged Sāriputta for pardon. He then invited Sāriputta to his house for almsfood.
    When the Buddha heard about this, he praised Sāriputta with this verse (and the following one, DhP 390).

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
brāhmaṇassa
pahareyya
assa
muñcetha
brāhmaṇo
dhī
hantāraṃ
tato
yo
muñcati