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mūlajātā

mūlajāta

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

1. deeply rooted (in); lit. grown roots

Built from

• mūla — root · root
  √mul: to sprout, grow roots. The concrete image of roots penetrating deep into earth becomes the metaphor for deep mental conditioning and ingrained habits.
• jāta — stem · born, grown
  Past participle of √jan (to be born, arise). In compounds with mūla, forms the adjective 'root-grown', expressing firm establishment from growth upward (paradoxically, roots grow down, but jāta here marks the state of having taken root).

Analysis. mūla (root) + jāta (born, grown) — compound meaning 'having roots grown' or 'root-born'; used of mental defilements deeply embedded in consciousness.

Etymology. mūla from √mul (to sprout, grow roots), related to Latin mōles (mass, heap) and English mull (to churn over); jāta, past participle of √jan (to be born), cognate with English kin, Latin genus, Sanskrit janati. The compound imagery is spatial: roots literally grown down into soil; applied to mental habits rooted deep in the mind.

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

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