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mahānisaṁsāti

mahānisaṁsa

accusative singular neuter of mahānisaṁsa (adjective/substantive); the final -ti is not standard Pali inflection and appears to be a scribal or textual variant — likely resolves to mahānisaṁse (locative) or mahānisaṁsa in direct discourse

1. great fruit or benefit
2. abundant advantage
3. supreme result

Built from

• maha — prefix · great
  From PIE *meg-; expresses magnitude and intensity. Cognates: English much, mighty, Latin magnus.
• ni — prefix · down, into
  Concrete imagery of downward motion; abstract sense 'inward result'. No direct European cognate; akin to English nether.
• saṁsa — root · fruit, benefit
  Related to √sas 'produce, bear'. In the canon mahānisaṁsa denotes the great karmic fruit or merit gained from ethical conduct and meditation.

Analysis. maha- (great) + ni- (down, inward) + saṁsa (fruit, advantage): literally 'having great inward fruition' — a doctrinal term for the beneficial outcome of practice, especially merit and karmic return.

Etymology. mahānisaṁsa compounds maha (from PIE *meg- 'great'; cognate English 'much', 'mighty') with nisaṁsa, formed from ni- (down, into) + saṁsa (fruit, benefit, derived from √sas 'produce, bear fruit'). The prefix ni- here suggests fruit or outcome turning inward as karmic result.

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

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