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kāyasakkhi

masc nom sg of kāyasakkhi (adj); fem nom sg of kāyasakkhi (adj); nt nom sg of kāyasakkhi (adj); nt acc sg of kāyasakkhi (adj); …

1. kāyasakkhi (adj): liberated through the experience of jhāna and the formless attainments; epithet of a stream-enterer or higher; lit. body-witness
2. kāyasakkhī (adj): liberated through the experience of jhāna and the formless attainments; epithet of a stream-enterer or higher; lit. body-witness

Built from

• kāya — root · body
  From PIE *kewe- 'to swell, grow'. In Buddhist usage, kāya refers both to the physical body and to groups or collections (kāya = 'collection', as in khandha-kāya 'group of aggregates'). Here it emphasizes direct embodied experience.
• sakkhi — stem · witness, eye-witness
  Derived from √sac- 'to follow, attend, accompany' (related to Latin sequi 'follow', English sue). A sakkhi is one who has followed along and attended to events, hence one who can testify to them. In this context, one who witnesses the arising and cessation of phenomena through meditative experience.

Analysis. Compound: kāya (body) + sakkhi (witness). In the Canon, kāyasakkhi denotes one who has realized the Dhamma through direct bodily experience of the jhānas and formless attainments, not merely through intellectual understanding.

Etymology. kāya 'body' (from PIE *kewe- 'to swell'; cf. Sanskrit kavaya-) + sakkhi 'witness, eye-witness' (from √sac- 'to follow, attend', connected to Latin sequi; sakkhi = 'one who follows/attends' → 'one who testifies'). The compound reflects the Buddhist epistemology that direct bodily experience (kāya) of meditative states constitutes valid testimony to the Dhamma.

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

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