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khayañāṇāya

khayañāṇa

nt dat sg of khayañāṇa (noun)

1. knowledge of extinction; understanding the exhaustion (of)

Built from

• khaya — root · extinction, exhaustion
  From √khi meaning wear down or diminish. The imagery is of something depleted, used up—the defilements coming to their end.
• ñāṇa — root · knowledge, understanding
  From √ña (to cognize). Cognate with English "know" and Greek "gnōsis"; stands for direct understanding, not mere intellectual knowledge.
• ā — ending · dative case marker
  The dative ending -ā marks the indirect object or goal (lit. 'to extinction-knowledge'), used in phrases like 'conducive to knowledge of extinction'.

Analysis. khaya (extinction, depletion) + ñāṇa (knowledge); a compound denoting direct understanding of the cessation of defilements, a cardinal insight in Abhidhamma analysis.

Etymology. khaya from √khi (to be diminished, wear away); ñāṇa from √ña (to know). Both roots are ancient Indo-European: khi is cognate with English "decay" and Latin "cadere" (to fall, decline); ña is the root of English "know" (PIE *gn̥- in the zero-grade).

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

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