Sons cannot protect you, or father, or other relatives.
When you are seized by the death, all relatives are of no help to you.

na      santi       putta    tanaya     na    pita      na   api  bandhava
|            |             |             |          |        |          |       |         |
neg. V.act.in.    N.m.      N.n.     neg.  N.m.    neg. part.   N.m.
|      3.Pl.pres. Nom.Pl. Dat.Sg.     |   Nom.Sg.   |____|    Nom.Pl.
|_______|            |              |         |____|                |_______|
       |                  |________|_______|_______________|
       |__________________|       |
                        |_____________|

List of Abbreviations

antakena adhipannassa na     atthi      batisu    tanata
|                       |           |          |            |             |
N.m.            Adj.m.   neg.  V.act.in.   N.m.      N.f.
Ins.Sg.         Gen.Sg.     |   3.Sg.pres. Loc.Pl. Nom.Sg.
|_____________|           |______|           |_______|
           |_________________|                      |
                         |______________________|

na, neg.: not.

santi, V.: are. The verb root is as-. 3.Pl.act.in.pres. = santi.

putta: putta-, N.m.: son. Nom.Pl. = putta.

tanaya: tana-, N.n.: protection, shelter, help. Dat.Sg. = tanaya.

na: see above.

pita: pitar-. N.m.: father. Nom.Sg. = pita.

na: see above.

api, part.: also, as well, even (often spelled pi).
Euphonic combination: na + api = napi.

List of Abbreviations

bandhava: bandhu-, N.m.: relative. Nom.Pl. = bandhava.

antakena: antaka-, N.m.: "the ender", end-maker, death. Derived from the word anta-, N.n.: end. Ins.Sg. = antakena.

adhipannassa: adhipanna-, Adj.: affected by, seized by, gone into. It is a p.p. of the verb root pad- (to fall) with the prefix adhi- (to, into). Gen.Sg.m. = adhipannassa.
Euphonic combination: antakena + adhipannassa = antakenadhipannassa.

na: see above.

atthi, V.: is. The verb root is as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.in.pres. = atthi.
Euphonic combination: na + atthi = natthi.

batisu: bati-, N.m.: relative. Loc.Pl. = batisu.

tanata: tanata-, N.f.: protection, sheltering. It is derived from the word tana- (see above).
Nom.Sg. = tanata.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of two syntactically separate sentences. They are:
    1) na santi putta tanaya na pita napi bandhava (sons cannot protect you, or father, or other relatives). There are three subjects in this sentence: the nouns putta (sons, nominative plural), pita (father, nominative singular) and bandhava (relatives, nominative plural). The verb is santi (are, 3^rd person, plural, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by three negative particles na (not). In one case, this particle is stressed by the particle api (even). The verb has an attribute, the noun tanaya (for protection, dative singular).
    2) antakenadhipannassa natthi batisu tanata (when you are seized by the death, all relatives are of no help to you). The subject is the noun tanata (help, nominative singular). It has an attribute, the noun batisu (amongst relatives, locative plural). The verb is atthi (is, 3^rd person, singular, active, indicative, present tense). It is negated by the negative particle na (not). The verb has an attribute, the past participle adhipannassa (of the one who is seized, genitive singular). It has an attribute, the noun antakena (by the end-maker, instrumental singular).

    Patacara lost her husband, two sons, parents and the only brother almost at the same time. She grieved so much that she went almost crazy. When she came to see the Buddha, he told her this verse (and the following one, DhP 289) to calm her down. For the whole story see DhP 113.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
santi
putta
tanaya
pita
api
bandhava
antakena
adhipannassa
atthi
batisu
tanata