‹ Back to the text

ānandena

ānanda

masc instr sg of ānanda (noun)

1. happiness; joy
2. name of an arahant monk; attendant of the Buddha; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in great learning; foremost monk in excellent recollection; foremost monk in retention; foremost monk in total recall; foremost monk in assistance; lit. happiness
3. name of four privately awakened Buddhas

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses motion verbs to mean approach or arrival; here it directs the rejoicing inward as an inner state of joy.
• nand — root · to rejoice, be glad
  Sanskrit nand-; expresses delight and the embrace of pleasure. No certain European cognate, though the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰend- 'to grasp' underlies Latin comprehendere.

Etymology. ā + √nand, 'to rejoice toward': ā reverses motion to mean 'toward the speaker' or 'up to', and √nand (Sanskrit nand-, 'to be glad') is the root of enjoyment and delight. Cognate with Sanskrit nanda- and the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰend- 'to seize, grasp' (underlying Latin hendere in comprehendere). The prefix ā pulls the sense of rejoicing inward, making it a state of gladness arrived at or embraced.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version