‹ Back to the text

dhammadāyādā

dhammadāyāda

masc nom pl of dhammadāyāda (adj); fem nom sg of dhammadāyāda (adj); fem nom pl of dhammadāyāda (adj); nt nom pl of dhammadāyāda (adj); …

1. spiritual heir; inheritor of the Dhamma

Built from

• dhamma — root · Dharma, doctrine
  From Sanskrit dharma, 'that which holds', from the root dhṛ- (to hold). Related to English 'firm', Latin 'firmus'. In the Pali canon, dhamma means the Buddha's teaching, the dharma, or the law of nature.
• dāyāda — stem · heir, inheritor
  From *dāi- 'to divide, share', cognate with English 'dole' and Sanskrit dāya- 'share, gift'. Literally 'one who takes a share'; used in compound to mean inheritor of the Dharma rather than material wealth.

Analysis. dhamma + dāyāda: 'heir to the Dharma'; in the suttas, one who inherits the Buddha's teaching rather than his material wealth, emphasizing that the true successor preserves the doctrine.

Etymology. dhamma (Pali for Sanskrit dharma, 'law, doctrine, element') + dāyāda (heir, from Indo-European *dāi- 'share, divide', cognate with English 'dole'; literally 'one who takes a share'). The compound expresses the canon's insistence that spiritual lineage transmits wisdom, not estate.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version