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anuruddhena

anuruddha

masc instr sg of anuruddha (noun); masc instr sg of anuruddha (pp); nt instr sg of anuruddha (pp); nt instr sg of anuruddha (noun)

1. name of an arahant monk; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in the divine eye; cousin of the Buddha
2. favoured; accepted; pleased
3. in reference to MN128 Anuruddhasutta; lit. favoured

Built from

• anu — prefix · along, following
  Trailing after; cognate with Greek ana-. Here it softens or reverses the sense of obstruction.
• ruddha — root · obstructed, favoured
  Past participle of rundh- or rudh-. In composition with anu-, yields the sense 'unobstructed' or 'running along smoothly', and by extension 'favoured, accepted'.
• ena — ending · instrumental singular
  Masculine/neuter instrumental singular ending in -ena. Marks the noun as the instrument or agent in a sentence.

Analysis. anu- (along, following) + ruddha (past participle of rundhati, 'obstructed, blocked'), hence 'not obstructed in the course of things', or analysed as anu- + ruddha (past participle of a root meaning 'pleased, favoured') — the word carries both its literal sense (unobstructed, followed through) and its doctrinal sense (favoured, accepted by circumstance or by the Buddha).

Etymology. The prefix anu- means 'along, following the track of' (cognate with Greek ana-, 'up through, along'); it reverses or softens the force of the root ruddha, which relates to rundh- 'to obstruct' or 'to block'. The name Anuruddha, applied to the Buddha's cousin famous for the divine eye (dibbacakkhu), embodies the sense of one whose path is unobstructed or whose faculties flow unimpeded.

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

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