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ābhassarato

ābhassara

masc abl sg of ābhassara (adj); masc abl pl of ābhassarā (noun)

1. ābhassara (adj): radiant; shining; belonging to the radiant heaven; epithet of a class of devas
2. ābhassarā (masc): radiant gods; effulgent deities

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Intensifies and elevates the root sense; concrete imagery of motion toward the speaker becomes intensity.
• bhassa — root · shine, be bright
  Related to Sanskrit bhāsate; cognate with English 'blaze' and Latin 'flagrāre' through Indo-European *bhel- 'to shine, flash'.
• ra — ending · agent, doer
  Nominalized suffix forming agent nouns; here 'one who shines', i.e. shining, radiant.

Analysis. ā + bhassara: ā (toward, up to) + bhassara (shining, from √bhass 'shine'). The prefix ā- lends intensity to the root sense, yielding 'brightly shining' or 'radiant'. In the Pali canon, the Ābhassarā are a celestial order of devas dwelling in a plane of refined form characterized by luminosity.

Etymology. √bhass 'to shine, be bright' is related to Sanskrit bhāsate (shines) and the Indo-European root *bhel- (to shine, flash; cognate with English 'blaze', 'flame', and Latin 'flagrāre'). The prefix ā- intensifies and reverses the direction of motion verbs, here lending the sense 'brightly' or 'radiant'.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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