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gaṇamanusāsanti

gaṇamanusāsati

pr 3rd pl of gaṇamanusāsati (verb)

1. instructs a group; teaches a crowd

Built from

• gaṇa — root · group, assembly
  From √gaṇ- 'to count, gather'. The concrete sense of counting people together into a group.
• anu — prefix · along, following
  Tracks after something; here suggests instruction fitted to the group's nature. Cognate with Greek ana- 'along, up through'.
• sās — root · teach, command
  From √śās 'to teach, rule, instruct'. The root carries the sense of authoritative direction. Cognate with Sanskrit śāsana 'doctrine, teaching'.
• a — stem · present stem
  Thematic vowel of the present tense system.
• nti — ending · 3rd plural present
  Marks third person plural in the present indicative; cognate with Latin -nt in amant 'they love'.

Analysis. gaṇa (group, assembly) + anu (along, following) + sāsati (teaches, instructs). The verb means to teach by following the method appropriate to a group, or to instruct collectively.

Etymology. From anu- (following, along; cognate with Greek ana- 'along, up through') + sāsati, root √śās (to teach, rule, command; cognate with Sanskrit śāsana 'teaching, doctrine' and English 'shout' in the sense of command). The prefix anu- suggests teaching that follows the path of the pupil's understanding.

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

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