Having understood this body to be like a jar,
having established this mind like a city,
attack Mara with the weapon of wisdom,
you should protect the conquered territory and be without attachments.

kumbha+ūpamaṃ kāyam    imaṃ    viditvā
|                  |            |             |            |
N.m.       Adj.m.    N.m.    Pron.m.  V.ger.
|             Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.      |
|__________|            |_______|            |
         |________________|                  |
                      |___________________|
                                         |__________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

nagara+ūpamaṃ  cittaṃ     idaṃ    ṭhapetvā
|                |             |            |            |
N.n.       Adj.n.     N.n.     Pron.n.  V.ger.
|           Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.  Acc.Sg.      |
|_________|             |______|             |
        |_______________|                   |
                     |___________________|
______________________|___________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

yodhetha   māraṃ paññā+āyudhena
|                    |          |             |
V.act.         N.m.    N.f.       N.n.
2.Pl.imp.  Acc.Sg.     |        Ins.Sg.
|___________|          |_______|
         |________________|
_____________|____________________________________________________

List of Abbreviations

jitaṃ     ca     rakkhe anivesano      siyā
|             |           |             |               |
N.n.    conj.   V.act.       N.m.       V.act.
Acc.Sg.  |     3.Sg.opt.  Nom.Sg.  3.Sg.opt.
|_______|______|              |________|
____|______________________|

kumbhūpamaṃ: kumbhūpama-, Adj.: similar to a jar. A compound of:
    kumbha-, N.m.: jar, pitcher.
    upama-, Adj.: similar. -like.
Euphonic combination: kumbha- + upama- = kumbhūpama-.
Acc.Sg.m. = kumbhūpamaṃ.

kāyam: kāya-, N.m.: body. Acc.Sg. = kāyaṃ.

imaṃ: idaṃ, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.m. = imaṃ.

viditvā, V.ger.: having known, having understood. The verb root vid- (to know).

List of Abbreviations

nagarūpamaṃ: nagarūpama-, Adj.: similar to a city, like a city. A compound of:
    nagara-, N.n.: city.
    upama-, Adj.: similar. -like.
Euphonic combination: nagara- + upama- = nagarūpama-.
Acc.Sg.n. = nagarūpamaṃ.

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

idaṃ: idaṃ, Pron.: this. Acc.Sg.n. = idaṃ.

ṭhapetvā, V.ger.: having established, having made firm. It is a ger. of the verb ṭhapeti (to make firm, to establish), which is a caus. of the verb ṭhā- (to stand, to be standing).

List of Abbreviations

yodhetha, V.: attack. A caus. of the verb yudh- (to fight). Thus yodheti: to attack, to fight against. 2.Pl.act.imp. = yodhetha.

māraṃ: māra-, N.m.: Mara, personified death, the Evil One, devil. Nom.Sg. = māraṃ.

paññāyudhena: paññāyudha-, N.n.: weapon of wisdom. A compound of:
    paññā-, N.f.: wisdom.
   āyudha-, N.n.: weapon.
Euphonic combination: paññā- + āyudha- = paññāyudha.
Ins.Sg. = paññāyudhena.

List of Abbreviations

jitaṃ: jita-, N.n.: victory, conquered thing. As an Adj.: conquered, mastered. It is a p.p. of the verb ji- (to win, to conquer). Acc.Sg. = jitaṃ.

ca, conj.: and.

rakkhe, V.: should protect. The verb root rakh- (to protect). 3.Sg.act.opt. = rakkhe.

anivesano: anivesana-, N.m.: without an attachment. It is a negated (by the negative prefix a-) word nivesana-, N.n.: attachment, clinging (the primary meaning of this word is house, settlement). Nom.Sg. = anivesano.

siyā, V.: should be. The verb root as- (to be). 3.Sg.act.opt. = siyā.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of five grammatically separated sentences. They are:
1) kumbhūpamaṃ kāyam imaṃ viditvā (having understood this body to be like a jar). Here the subject is omitted. The verb is in the gerundive, viditvā (having understood). The object is formed of the words kāyaṃ (body, accusative singular) and imaṃ (this, accusative singular). It has an attribute, the compound kumbhūpamaṃ (similar to a jar, accusative singular).

2) nagarūpamaṃ cittaṃ idaṃ ṭhapetvā (having established this mind like a city). Again, the object is missing here. The verb is again a gerundive, ṭhapetvā (having established). The object is formed of the words cittaṃ (mind, accusative singular) and idaṃ (this, accusative singular). It has an attribute, nagarūpamaṃ (similar to a city, accusative singular).

3) yodhetha māraṃ paññāyudhena (attack Mara with the weapon of wisdom). The object is the pronoun you, but it is omitted ,since in the Pali sentence it is not necessary. The verb is yodhetha (you should attack, 2nd person, plural, active, imperative). The verb has an attribute, the word paññāyudhena (by the weapon of wisdom, instrumental singular). The object of the sentence is the word māraṃ (Mara, accusative singular).

4) jitaṃ ca rakkhe (one should protect the conquered [territory]). Again, as the subject is clear from the verb, the actual pronoun (in this case he/she) is not needed. The verb is rakkhe (he should protect, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). Note the change of the subject - from the second person plural in the previous sentence to the third person singular in this one. The object is jitaṃ (the conquered [territory], accusative singular). The conjunction ca (and) connects this sentence to the previous one.

5) anivesano siyā (one should be without attachments). As before, the subject (he/she) is omitted. The verb is siyā (one should be, 3rd person, singular, active, optative). It has an attachment, the word anivesano (without attachments, nominative singular).

    Our body is like a jar, very fragile. And our mind should be like a fortified city, guarded everywhere. The story for this verse says:
    Five hundred monks from Sāvatthi received the meditation subjects and went far away to a large grove. The guardian spirits of the trees there saw that the monks came and decided that it would be impolite to stay in the trees. So they descended, thinking the monks will only stay one night. But they decided to spend the Rain retreat there. The spirits did not want to live on the ground so long, so they scared the monks by terrible sounds and ghostly images.
    The monks ran away and told the Buddha what happened. He told them that they did not have any weapon, so they must be armed with loving kindness (Mettā). He then taught them the Mettā sutta. He further instructed them to recite the poem from the outskirts of the forest and enter the monastery still reciting. The monks did accordingly.
    The spirits received their loving kindness, welcomed them and did them no harm. The monks meditated on the 32 parts of the body and realized its impermanence. The Buddha saw it from away, appeared in front of them, saying, yes, the body is like a jar. He also told them this verse (DhP 40). All five hundred monks became arahants.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

kumbhūpamaṃ
kumbha
upamaṃ
kāyam
imaṃ
viditvā
nagarūpamaṃ
nagara
upamaṃ
cittaṃ
idaṃ
ṭhapetvā
yodhetha
māraṃ
paññāyudhena
paññā
āyudhena
jitaṃ
ca
rakkhe
anivesano
siyā