One should not associate with evil friends; one should not associate with vile people.
Associate with virtuous friends; associate with noble people.

na     bhaje     pāpake  mitte    na     bhaje purisa+adhame
|           |             |           |         |          |         |          |
neg.  V.act.    Adj.m.    N.m.  neg.   V.act.  N.m.  Adj.m.
|      3.Sg.opt. Acc.Pl.  Acc.Pl.   |    3.Sg.opt.  |      Acc.Pl.
|______|             |______|          |_____|         |______|
      |_____________|                      |___________|

List of Abbreviations

bhajetha  mitte   kalyāṇe bhajetha purisa+uttame
|                 |           |            |           |          |
V.act.      N.m.   Adj.m.   V.act.    N.m. Adj.m.
2.Pl.opt. Acc.Pl. Acc.Pl. 2.Pl.opt.    |     Acc.Pl.
|                 |______|            |           |______|
|_____________|                 |_________|

na, neg.: not.

bhaje, V.: one should associate with. The verb root is bhaj- (to associate with). 3.Sg.act.opt. = bhaje.

pāpake: pāpaka-, Adj.: evil, bad. It is the word pāpa-, N.n.: evil, wrong doing with the adjective suffix -ka. Acc.Pl.m. = pāpake.

mitte: mitta-, N.m.: friend. Acc.Pl. = mitte.

na: see above.

bhaje: see above.

List of Abbreviations

purisādhame: purisādhama-, N.m.: vile person. It is a compound of:
    purisa-, N.m.: person.
    adhama-, Adj.: lowest, vilest.
Euphonic combination: purisa- + adhama- = purisādhama-.
Acc.Pl. = purisādhame.

bhajetha, V.: associate with. The verb root is bhaj- (to associate with).
2.Pl.act.opt. = bhajetha.

List of Abbreviations

mitte: see above.

kalyāṇe: kalyāṇa-, Adj.: good, virtuous. Ac.Pl.m. = kalyāṇe.

bhajetha: see above.

purisuttame: purisuttama-, N.m.: noble person. It is a compound of:
    purisa-, N.m.: person.
    uttama-, Adj.: highest, noble.
Euphonic combination: purisa- + uttama- = purisuttama-.
Acc.Pl. = purisuttame.

List of Abbreviations

    This verse consists of four sentences.
    1) na bhaje pāpake mitte (one should not associate with evil friends). The subject is omitted, because from the verb form it is clear that a third person singular pronoun is implied. The verb is bhaje (one should associate, 3rd person, singular, active, optative), which is negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the noun mitte (friends, accusative plural) with its attribute, the adjective pāpake (evil, accusative plural).
    2) na bhaje purisādhame (one should not associate with vile people). As above, the subject is the omitted personal pronoun for the third person singular. The verb is again bhaje (see above) negated by the negative particle na (not). The object is the compound purisādhame (vile people, accusative plural).
    3) bhajetha mitte kalyāṇe (associate with virtuous friends). This time, the omitted subject is the second person plural pronoun, as implied from the verb form. The verb is bhajetha (you should associate, 2nd person, plural, active, optative). The object is the noun mitte (friends, accusative plural) with its attribute, the adjective kalyāṇe (virtuous, accusative plural).
    4) bhajetha purisuttame (associate with noble people). As in the previous sentence, the subject should be the second person plural pronoun. The verb is bhajetha (as above). The object is the compound purisuttame (noble people, accusative plural).

    Channa was Prince Siddhattha's servant before he renounced the world. When he left the palace and went to homelessness, Channa accompanied him part of the way. After he became the Buddha, Channa also left the worldly life and became a monk. But on account of his close connection with the Buddha, he was very proud and arrogant. He used to scold Sāriputta and Moggallāna, envying them their positions as two Buddha's chief disciples.
    The Buddha admonished him several times, but Channa still continued to abuse as before. This went on for a long time. Just before the Buddha passed away, he told Ānanda that after his death, a special punishment should be imposed on Channa - nobody was to talk to him, nobody was to associate with him.
    When Channa learned about this, he felt a deep remorse for his behavior. He admitted his mistake and apologized. After that he changed his ways, practiced diligently and soon he became an Arahant.

Sentence pronunciation

Word pronunciation:

na
bhaje
pāpake
mitte
purisādhame
purisa
adhame
bhajetha
kalyāṇe
purisuttame
uttame