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gocaro

gocara

masc nom sg of gocara (noun)

1. food; fodder; grazing; pasture; lit. (where the) cows walk
2. environment; range; hunting ground; feeding ground; field of activity; domain; suitable place; suitable alms resort; lit. (where the) cows walk
3. sphere; domain; field; range; lit. (where the) cows walk
4. object of the senses; lit. (where the) cows walk
5. hunting ground; lit. (where the) cows walk

Built from

• go — root · cow
  Cognate with English 'cow', Latin bōs, Greek bóōs, Sanskrit gau. The term retains its concrete image: a cow's pasture becomes metaphorically the range or domain of activity.
• cara — root · walking, moving
  From √car 'to walk, move, travel'. Cognate with Latin currō 'I run', English 'car'. The walker (cara) is one who moves; the walking-place of cows is their feeding ground.

Analysis. go + cara: literally 'where cows walk', from √car 'to walk/move' + go 'cow'; used metaphorically for any feeding ground, domain, or range of activity (including sense-objects as 'food' for the mind).

Etymology. Compound of go (cow, related to English 'cow', Latin bōs, Greek bóōs, Sanskrit gau) and cara (walker, from √car 'to move', related to Latin currō 'run', English 'car'). The literal sense 'pasture' evolved into the doctrinal usage: sense-objects are the 'grazing ground' (gocara) on which consciousness feeds; in meditation, the gocara is the chosen object (e.g. breath in ānāpānasati).

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

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