Protect yourself from blameworthy speech; guard your speech well.
Having renounced the wrong verbal deed, practice the right verbal action.

vaci+ppakopaj rakkheyya  vacaya sajvuto   siya
|               |              |               |           |             |
N.n.     N.m.       V.act.         N.f.   Adj.m.    V.act.
|          Acc.Sg.   3.Sg.opt.    Ins.Sg. Nom.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|________|               |               |______|             |
        |____________|                     |__________|

List of Abbreviations

vaci+duccaritaj hitva   vacaya sucaritaj    care
|               |             |           |            |             |
N.n.     N.n.      V.ger.     N.f.       N.n.      V.act.
|         Acc.Sg.         |      Ins.Sg.  Acc.Sg. 3.Sg.opt.
|________|              |          |_______|             |
        |____________|                |___________|
                   |_____________________|

vacippakopaj: vacippakopa-, N.m.: blameworthy speech. It is a compound of:
    vaci: vaco-, N.n.: speech, words, saying. The compound form = vaci-.
    pakopa-, N.m.: anger.
Euphonic combination: vaci- + pakopa- = vacippakopa-.
Acc.Sg. = vacippakopaj.

rakkheyya, V.: should protect. The verb root is rakkh- (to protect). 3.Sg.act.opt. = rakkheyya.

vacaya: vaca-, N.f.: speech, voice. Ins.Sg. = vacaya.

sajvuto: sajvuta-, Adj.: restrained, governed, guarded. It is a p.p. of the verb var- (to obstruct) with the prefix saj- (together, completely). Nom.Sg.m. = sajvuto.

siya, V.: would be. The verb root is as-. 3.Sg.act.opt. = siya.

List of Abbreviations

vaciduccaritaj: wrong verbal deed. It is a compound of:
    vaci: see above.
    duccarita-, Adj.: wrong-conduct, wrong action. It is the word carita-, N.n.: action, conduct (originally it is the p.p. of the verb root car-, to walk, to act), with the prefix du- (wrong, bad).
Acc.Sg. = vaciduccaritaj.

hitva, V.ger.: having renounced, having left behind. It is a ger. of the verb ha- (to abandon, to leave).

vacaya: see above.

sucaritaj: sucarita-, Adj.: good-conduct, right action. It is the word carita-, N.n.: action, conduct (originally it is the p.p. of the verb root car-, to walk, to act), with the prefix su- (good, well).
Acc.Sg.m. = sucaritaj.

care, V.: should practice. The verb root is car- (to walk). 3.Sg.act.opt. = care.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of three syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) vacippakopaj rakkheyya (one should protect oneself from blameworthy speech). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is rakkheyya ([one] should protect oneself, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun vacippakopaj (from blameworthy speech, accusative singular).
    2) vacaya sajvuto siya (one should be guarded as for the speech). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is siya ([one] should be, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the past participle sajvuto (guarded, nominative singular) with its attribute, the noun vacaya (by the speech, instrumental singular).
    3) vaciduccaritaj hitva kayena sucaritaj care (having renounced the wrong verbal deed, one should practice the right verbal action). This can be further analysed into two segments:
    a) vaciduccaritaj hitva (having renounced the wrong verbal deed). The verb is in gerund, hitva (having renounced). The object is the compound vaciduccaritaj (wrong verbal deed, accusative singular).
    b) vacaya sucaritaj care (one should practice the right verbal action). The subject is omitted; the verb implies the third person singular pronoun. The verb is care ([one] should practice, 3^rd person, singular, active, optative). The object is the noun sucaritaj (right action, accusative singular) with its attribute, the noun vacaya (by the speech, instrumental singular).

    The story for this verse is identical with the one for the previous verse (DhP 231) and the following ones (DhP 233, DhP 234).
    By this verse the Buddha stressed that both the right conduct in bodily deeds and the right conduct in verbal speech are equally important.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

vacippakopaj
vaci
pakopaj
rakkheyya
vacaya
sajvuto
siya
vaciduccaritaj
duccaritaj
hitva
sucaritaj
care