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kāmānameva
kāma
accusative plural + emphatic particle
- wishing; wanting; would be delighted (to)
- enjoying; fond (of); who likes; who loves
- sense desire; sensual pleasure (of)
- (objects of) pleasure; sensual pleasure; sexual pleasure; sensual temptation
Built from
- kāma — root · desire, pleasure
From a root *kam- 'to desire', shared with Sanskrit kāma. The concrete image is of wanting something, reaching for it; in the Pali canon, kāma denotes the five sense-pleasures (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and their objects — the primary fuel of craving and rebirth.
- ān — ending · accusative plural
The ending -ān marks the accusative plural of masculine a-stem nouns, here agreeing with kāma; it focuses the listener's attention on the pleasures as direct objects of grasping or rejection.
- eva — prefix · indeed, just, precisely
An enclitic emphatic particle (from √√, meaning 'just so') that intensifies or singles out the preceding word; common in the canon to underline a point — here, 'these very desires' or 'pleasures in themselves'.
Analysis. kāmānaṃ (accusative plural of kāma) + eva (emphatic particle 'indeed, just'): 'desires themselves', 'pleasures indeed' — used to emphasize that the teaching concerns sensual objects specifically.
Etymology. kāma derives from a root meaning 'to desire', cognate with Sanskrit kāma and Greek kamē 'desire'. The word entered Buddhist vocabulary as a keyword for the sensory appetites that bind beings to saṃsāra. Eva is an enclitic emphatic particle, cognate with Sanskrit eva.