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cātuyāmasaṁvarasaṁvuto

cātuyāmasaṁvarasaṁvuta

past participle (masculine nominative singular) of cātuyāmasaṁvarasaṁvarati; or adjective meaning 'bound by the fourfold night precept'

1. observing the eightfold precept (four night precepts)
2. practicing the extended uposatha vow

Built from

• cātu — root · four
  Numeral root; from Indic catur-, cognate with Latin quattuor, Greek tessares.
• yāma — stem · night watch, period
  From √yam 'to hold, restrain'; four watches divide the night in traditional reckoning.
• sam — prefix · together, completely
  Prefix bringing things into one; works like Latin con-. Marks intensification of the restraint.
• vara — stem · restraint, precept
  Derived from √vṛ 'to cover, bind, restrain'; the concrete image is binding or covering.
• sam — prefix · together, completely
  Second application of sam-, emphasizing full binding in the observance.
• uta — ending · bound, yoked
  Past participle of √vṛ; marks the state of being bound or committed to the precept.

Analysis. cātu-yāma-saṁvara-saṁvuta: cātu ('four') + yāma ('watch, period of night') + saṁvara ('restraint, precept', from sam + √vṛ 'to cover/restrain') + saṁvuta (past participle of saṁvarati 'is bound by, observes', sam + √vṛ). The compound refers to observance of the extended precepts during the four watches of the night, intensifying standard uposatha practice.

Etymology. saṁvara and saṁvuta derive from sam- (together, completely) + √vṛ (to cover, restrain, bind), cognate with Latin vir- (turn, twist), Sanskrit vṛṇoti (chooses, turns). The spatial sense 'covering together' → 'binding, restraint'; yāma from √yam (to hold, restrain), cognate with Sanskrit yama and English yoke.

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

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