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āsavanirodhoti

āsavanirodha

masculine noun, nominative singular (with enclitic iti)

1. ending of the defilements; cessation of the effluents

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward (speaker)
  Reverses motion verbs to indicate approach or arrival.
• sru — root · flows
  The effluent flows toward consciousness; cognate with Latin serum 'whey'.
• a — ending · nominalizer
  Converts verbal root into masculine noun stem.
• ni — prefix · down, into, away
  Indicates motion downward or inward, here cessation and withdrawal.
• rudh — root · obstructs, blocks
  To obstruct or restrain; cognate with Sanskrit ruddhá 'blocked', English 'rude' (crude, unworked).
• a — ending · nominalizer
  Converts verbal root into masculine noun stem.

Analysis. āsava-nirodha, a dvandva or tatpuruṣa compound: āsava 'effluent, defilement' (ā + √sru 'flow toward') + nirodha 'cessation, restraint' (ni + √rudh 'obstruct'). The word is formed with enclitic iti ('thus, so') marking quoted speech or defining a term.

Etymology. āsava: ā- 'toward the speaker' + √sru 'flows' (cognate with English 'serum', Latin 'serum' 'whey'; the effluent is what flows out into consciousness). nirodha: ni- 'down, into, away' + √rudh 'obstructs, blocks' (cognate with English 'rude' in its root sense of 'crude, unworked', Sanskrit ruddhá 'blocked'). The compound denotes the stopping or cutting-off of the āsavas—the cankers or defilements that flow into the mind—central to the Pali canon's analysis of liberation (Dhp. 89: āsavānaṁ khayaṁ).

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

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