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kāmaguṇānaṁ

kāmaguṇa

genitive plural

1. sensual pleasure
2. object of desire
3. sense-object

Built from

• kāma — root · desire, lust
  The craving for sensory experience; the root of dukkha in Buddhist teaching.
• guṇa — root · strand, quality
  Originally a strand of a rope or the strands of nature (sattva, rajas, tamas); here, the attributes that characterize sensual experience.
• ānaṁ — ending · genitive plural
  Marks the plural possessive, indicating 'of the sensual qualities/objects'.

Analysis. Compound: kāma (desire, lust, sensual pleasure) + guṇa (strand, quality, attribute). In doctrinal usage, the five kāmaguṇas or six (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects) are the objects that entangle beings in craving and attachment.

Etymology. kāma from PIE *kam- 'to desire' (Sanskrit kāma); guṇa from PIE *gen- 'to beget, produce' (Sanskrit guṇa, literally 'strand' of the three modes of nature). The compound refers to the qualities or strands of sensuality that bind beings to the round of rebirth.

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

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