kāmarāgassa

kāmarāga

masc dat sg of kāmarāga (noun); masc gen sg of kāmarāga (noun)

passion for sensual pleasure; sensual desire; lust for sensual pleasure

Built from

kāma — root · sensual desire
From √kam 'to desire, wish'. The object of craving (taṇhā) and a primary driver of rebirth.
rāga — root · passion, greed, lust
From √raj 'to colour, stain, taint'. Passion colours and clouds the mind; one of the three roots of evil (mūla) alongside moha and dosa.
a — ending · masculine nominative stem
Masculine -a stem forming the base for declension. Dative and genitive singular both end in -ssa.

Analysis. kāma (sensual pleasure) + rāga (passion, greed); a compound denoting the greedy attachment to sense-objects that binds beings to saṁsāra and is rooted out by the ariyan path.

Etymology. kāma from √kam 'to desire' (cognate with Latin camare, though the latter is rare); rāga from √raj 'to colour, taint' (as passion colours the mind), cognate with Latin ruber 'red' and English 'red'. Together they form a doctrinal term for one of the fetters (samyojana) and a root of suffering (dukkha).

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

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