‹ Back to the text

anattānaṁ

anattā

accusative plural masculine of anattā (adjective/pronoun); also interpreted as a/n + attā, 'not-self'

1. not-self, lacking a permanent essence
2. the doctrine that all phenomena lack an unchanging self or soul
3. in Buddhist psychology, the five aggregates (skandhas) without an essential core

Built from

• a/an — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist, anonymous).
• attā — root · self, soul, essence
  From PIE *h₂et- 'to go'; Sanskrit ātman 'self, breath, soul, essence'. The Buddhist negation of an eternal, unchanging self or ātman is central to the Dhamma.

Analysis. a- (prefix 'not, without') + attā (Pali atta, self, soul; Sanskrit ātman). The canonical term for the Buddhist principle anattā (Pk. anattaṁ), that no phenomenon possesses an unchanging, independent essence — opposed to the Upaniṣadic brahminical doctrine of ātman as eternal soul.

Etymology. a- + attā (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- 'to go'; Sanskrit ātman 'self, breath, soul', also cognate with Old English æðm 'breath' and Greek aithra 'air'). The prefix negates the noun directly: 'non-self' (no abiding soul).

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

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