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malaggahitaṁ

malaggahita

past participle (neuter nominative singular) of malaggaṇhāti; alternatively, neuter nominative singular adjective

1. seized by filth or stain
2. afflicted by defilement
3. tainted

Built from

• mala — root · filth, defilement
  The concrete image of dirt clinging to the body; used metaphorically in the Suttas for moral corruption (kilesa, taṇhā, etc.). Related to Latin malus (bad).
• ggahita — ending · seized, grasped
  Past participle of gaṇhāti (to seize). The doubled gg is sandhi: the final -a of mala assimilates to the initial g- of gahita. This ending marks the neuter nominative singular form in agreement with its subject (e.g., malaggahitaṁ cittaṁ, 'the mind seized by filth').

Analysis. mala (filth, defilement) + ggahita (past participle of gaṇhāti, "to seize, grasp"); the doubled consonant gg results from internal sandhi (mala + gahita). The word literalizes the metaphor of moral corruption as soil or dirt clinging to the mind.

Etymology. mala derives from the root √mal (to soil, to be dirty); cognate with Latin malus (bad, evil, ill). ggahita comes from √gah (to seize, grasp, hold), akin to Sanskrit gṛh- (to take, receive), Latin prehendere. The compound expresses defilement as something physically adhering to the person.

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

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