cutūpapātañāṇāya

cutūpapātañāṇa

nt dat sg of cutūpapātañāṇa (noun)

knowledge of death and rebirth; lit. knowledge of falling and arising

Built from

cutū — stem · deaths (ablative plural)
From cuti (√cu "move away, slip") + ablative -ū. The referent is the moment consciousness leaves the body at death.
upa — prefix · down, near
Spatial prefix meaning approach or descent; here emphasizes the immediate proximity and reality of the falling away into a new life.
pāta — root · falling, descent
√pat "fall" (PIE *pet-, cognate with English "fall", Latin "petere"). Used concretely for the being's descent into a new birth.
ñāṇa — stem · knowledge
√jñā "know" (PIE *gn-, cognate with English "know", Latin "gnōscere", Greek "ginōskein"). Knowledge is the stable apprehension of what has been directly perceived.
ā — ending · neuter nominative stem
Pali neuter nouns in -ā form the nominative (and other direct cases) with the bare stem.
ya — ending · dative singular
Standard dative singular ending for neuter nouns in -ā, marking the recipient or object of action.

Analysis. cutū + upapāta + ñāṇa. Cutū is the ablative plural of cuti "death, passing away" (from √cu "to move, pass"); upapāta is "falling, descent" (upa- "down close" + √pat "fall"); ñāṇa is "knowledge". The compound denotes the divine eye (dibbacakkhu) that perceives the death and rebirth of sentient beings across realms—one of the five higher knowledges (abhiññā) in the Buddhist path.

Etymology. Cuti derives from √cu (Proto-Indo-European *kewə- "to hollow out, empty"), related to Sanskrit √cyu "move, slip away"; the notion is of consciousness slipping away at death. Pāta derives from √pat (PIE *pet- "to fall"), cognate with English "fall", Latin "petere" (seek; the trajectory sense), Sanskrit "patati". Ñāṇa is from √jñā (PIE *gn- "know"), cognate with English "know", Latin "gnōscere", Greek "ginōskein".

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

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