Verse III

dri bzang bsgos pa'i chu gtsang de
mchod yon zhabs bsil bsang gtor sogs
gang du byas kyang legs pa ltar
legs bshad gtam ni kun la mdzes

That pure water infused with sweet perfume sprinkled as an offering of pure bathing water for the feet is, in this way, like goodness: although performed in a particular instance, words of elegant speech are powerful everywhere.

(As in, if you sprinkle sweet smelling water on a man's foot, wherever he walks the perfumed water will spread).

Alternatives:

That pure water which is infused with sweet perfume sprinkled as an offering of pure bathing water for the sole of the foot is, in this way, like goodness: although performed in a particular instance, words of elegant speech are powerful everywhere.

Textual Notes:

Not exactly a pun, mchod yon is an interesting choice of words because it has two meanings: one is "patron-priest relationship," and the other "drinking water."  I translate it as "water" because that makes the most literal sense.  It is important to note, however, that even though the second meaning doesn't make sense in context, I feel the word choice was purposeful - water is made as an offering and patron-priest relationships are based on a system of mutual offerings; in fact, mchod and yon both mean offering (although yon is usually used to denote an offering as a reward, which is indeed why this conjunction is used for patron-priest relationships).  Unfortunately these layers of interrelated meanings are impossible to retain once translated into English.

Cultural Notes:

The patron-priest relationship was a common arrangement in Tibetan Buddhism in which a lama would give spiritual guidance and power to a leader in return for financial and political support.

Signing off in Lhasa, Miss A.