‹ Back to the text

kiṁsamudayaṁ

kiṁsamudaya

accusative singular masculine of kiṁsamudaya (compound noun)

1. the origin of suffering
2. the arising of suffering
3. the second Noble Truth

Built from

• kiṁ — root · what, which
  Indefinite interrogative pronoun used here to mean 'that which' or simply as a relative. Here it functions as an indefinite marker in the compound, picking out the thing that arises.
• saṁ — prefix · together, completely
  Brings multiple elements into unified whole. Spatial imagery of gathering: things brought into one point or movement. Cognate to English 'same', Latin similis.
• ud — prefix · up, out
  Upward and outward emergence. Cognate to English 'out', German 'aus'. Intensifies the sense of arising.
• aya — ending · going, motion
  Nominalizing suffix from √i 'go', creating an abstract noun 'arising' or 'coming'. Forms samudaya (origin, arising)—the coming-together-up of causes.

Analysis. kiṁ (what, interrogative/indefinite) + samudaya (arising, origin; from sam- 'together' + ud- 'up' + aya 'going', hence 'coming-together upward'). The compound treats kiṁ as an indefinite: 'that which arises together', used specifically for dukkha-samudaya, the origin of suffering—the Second Noble Truth taught by the Buddha.

Etymology. Samudaya derives from sam- (together, completely) + ud- (up, out) + √i (go), giving 'arising, origin'. The prefix sam- condenses multiple causes into one emergent phenomenon; ud- conveys the upward, outward manifestation. Compare English 'up' and 'out', and Sanskrit sam-UT-thita 'risen up together'. In Buddhist doctrine, kiṁsamudaya is the standard Pali rendering of dukkha-samudaya, the cause and origin of suffering.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version