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mahāhatthipadopamasuttaṁ

mahāhatthipadopamasutta

n. acc. sg.; compound word (sutta); alternate form of Mahāhatthipadopamasutta

1. the Great Elephant Footprint Simile Discourse (MN 28)
2. a sutta in which the Buddha compares the footprint of an elephant to the Four Noble Truths

Built from

• mahā — root · great
  From PIE *meg-, expressing magnitude and power. Cognates: English much, mighty, Latin magnus.
• hatthipada — stem · elephant's footprint
  Compound: hattha (trunk, hand—from √hṛ to grasp) + pada (foot, footprint—from PIE *ped-, cognate foot, Latin pes).
• upama — root · simile, likeness
  From upa (near, alongside) + ā (toward) + √mā (measure), literally 'measuring alongside for comparison'. Prefix upa and ā reverse the motion, bringing comparison into relation.
• sutta — stem · discourse
  From √sū (to stitch, weave), hence the canonical texts as woven teachings. Cognates: English sew, Latin suere.

Analysis. mahā (great) + hatthipada (elephant's footprint) + upama (simile, comparison) + sutta (discourse). The title describes the sutta's central metaphor: just as the footprint of an elephant encompasses all other animal footprints, so the Four Noble Truths encompass all doctrinal teachings.

Etymology. Compound of mahā (Sanskrit mahā, PIE *meg- 'great'; cognate English much, mighty), hatthipada (hattha 'hand, trunk' + pada 'foot, footprint'; pada from PIE *ped- foot, cognate English foot, Latin pes), upama (from upa + ā + √mā, literally 'measuring alongside', comparison), and sutta (from sū 'to stitch, weave', hence discourse as woven teaching; cognate English sew, Latin suere).

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

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