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cakkhuviññāṇaṁ

cakkhuviññāṇa

neuter accusative singular of cakkhuviññāṇa (a noun formed by tatpuruṣa compound)

1. eye-consciousness
2. visual perception (the mind-moment receiving visible data at the eye)
3. the first of the six types of consciousness in Abhidhamma

Built from

• cakkhu — root · eye
  The sense organ and its faculty. From *cakṣu-, round in shape (the iris); related to the circular shape imagery of Greek kýklos.
• vi — prefix · apart
  Marks clarity and discrimination. The viññāṇa that arises is consciousness distinguishing the visible form from the background.
• ñāṇ — root · know
  From √jñā (Sanskrit jānāti "knows"), the root of all knowing. Here it means discriminative knowing or consciousness.
• a — stem · agent noun suffix
  Nominalizes the root, making it a concrete noun: "the knowing", hence consciousness as a noun.
• ṁ — ending · accusative singular neuter
  The accusative marks the direct object or patient here, the consciousness perceived or received.

Analysis. cakkhu (eye) + viññāṇa (consciousness). Cakkhu is the organ of sight; viññāṇa is the knowing that arises dependent on that sense faculty and its object (form). In doctrinal usage, cakkhuviññāṇa is one of the six consciousnesses (aṅga-viññāṇa), each bound to a sense door (āyatana), and is the bare registration of color and shape before conceptual elaboration.

Etymology. Cakkhu derives from Proto-Indic *cakṣu- (Sanskrit cakṣu "eye"), cognate with English dialectal "cake" (the round shape) and Greek kýklos "circle" (the round iris). Viññāṇa is from vi- (apart) + √jñā (know), meaning "knowledge that separates" or "discriminating awareness"—compare Sanskrit vijñāna.

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

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