‹ Back to the text

kusalamūlaṁ

kusalamūla

noun, accusative singular masculine (or nominative singular neuter), from nom. sg. kusalamūlaṁ

1. root of merit
2. basis of skillfulness
3. wholesome foundation

Built from

• kusala — stem · skillful, wholesome
  Formed from a bound prefix (ku-) and √sal 'to succeed'; in compound, denotes the constellation of non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion.
• mūla — root · root, foundation
  Cognate with English 'mill'; represents the foundational, regenerating source of action in Buddhist ethics.

Analysis. kusala (skillful, wholesome; literally 'well-brought-together') + mūla (root). The compound denotes the fundamental mental roots—non-greed (alobha), non-hatred (adosa), and non-delusion (amoha)—that generate all wholesome action in Buddhist ethics.

Etymology. kusala is derived from ku + sal, the prefix ku- being an old adverbial form, and √sal meaning 'to succeed, prosper' (cognate with Sanskrit śāla 'hall, excellence'). mūla is the root or foundation, cognate with Latin mālus and English 'mole' (as in 'mole of a plant'), ultimately from Indo-European *mel- 'to crush, grind, mill'.

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

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