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bahujanahitāya

dative singular neuter of bahujanahita (compound adjective)

1. for the benefit of many people; for the good of the population

Built from

• bahu — root · much, many
  From Indo-European *meg- 'great'. Cognate with Latin magnus, Greek μέγας. The concrete sense 'bulky, large' became 'many' in quantity.
• jana — root · people, folk
  From Indo-European *gen- 'to produce, beget'. Cognate with Latin genus 'kind, race', English kin. The sense 'generated together' evolved to 'tribe, people'.
• hita — stem · benefited, welfare
  Past participle of √dhā 'place, put', hence 'what is placed in good order, what is established or settled for one's good'. Cognate with English do, Sanskrit dhā, Greek τίθημι.
• ya — ending · dative singular
  Dative case marker. Indicates the indirect object or beneficiary, showing the purpose or advantage: 'for the benefit of'.

Analysis. bahujana (many people) + hita (benefited, welfare) — a dative compound expressing purpose or advantage: 'for the welfare of the many'.

Etymology. bahujana from bahu (much, many; cognate with Latin magnus 'great', Greek μέγας) + jana (people; cognate with Latin genus, Greek γένος); hita from √dhā 'place, put' (past participle = 'placed in position', hence 'settled, established, benefited'; cognate with English do, Sanskrit dhā). The compound idiom reflects the Pali canon's recurrent theme of the Buddha's teaching directed toward lokahhita, the world's welfare.

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

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