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khīṇāsavā

khīṇāsava

masc nom pl of khīṇāsava (adj); fem nom sg of khīṇāsava (adj); fem nom pl of khīṇāsava (adj); nt nom pl of khīṇāsava (adj); …

1. who has destroyed the effluents; awakened; epithet of an arahant

Built from

• khīṇa — stem · destroyed, exhausted
  Past participle of √khī 'to destroy, wear away'; represents the condition of having consumed all mental taints.
• āsava — stem · effluents, taints
  From ā (toward) + √sav (to flow); the four asavas (kāma-, bhava-, diṭṭhi-, avijjā-asava) are the flows of craving and delusion that perpetuate rebirth; their destruction marks the arahant.

Analysis. Compound of khīṇa (destroyed, past participle of khīyati) and āsava (effluents, taints). The term denotes one in whom the destructive asavas—the compulsive mental effluents of sense-desire, becoming, views, and ignorance—have been wholly exhausted; this is the canonical marker of arhatship.

Etymology. khīṇa derives from √khī (to destroy, waste away), related to Sanskrit kṣīyati (to waste, diminish); āsava compounds ā (toward) + √sav (to flow, strain), so lit. 'that which flows toward/into', the mental flows or taints that nourish saṃsāra. Cognate with English 'seep' and Greek azo 'to dry'; the prefix ā reverses the motion of flow into absorption.

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

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