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manussadhammā

manussadhamma

masc nom pl of manussadhamma (noun); masc instr sg of manussadhamma (noun); masc abl sg of manussadhamma (noun); masc voc sg of manussadhamma (noun); …

1. human state; normal condition; lit. human nature
2. human principle; lit. human nature

Built from

• manussā — stem · human (genitive pl)
  From *manu-ssa-, 'of Manu', the lawgiver. Cognate with Sanskrit manuṣya, Latin mensis, English 'mind'.
• dhamma — stem · nature, principle, law
  From √dhṛ 'to hold, bear'. Cognate with Sanskrit dhṛ, Latin ferō 'bear', English 'bear'. The nature or law one holds and carries.

Analysis. manussadhamma = manussā (human, masc pl gen) + dhamma (nature, principle, law). The genitive manussā modifies dhamma, yielding 'the nature of humans' or 'the law that is human'. Often used doctrinally for the ordinary condition of embodied life subject to age, sickness, death, and change — what the Buddha and arahats transcend.

Etymology. manussā derives from *manu-ssa-, 'of Manu', the primordial lawgiver and ancestor in Indo-European mythology (Sanskrit manuṣya, Latin mensis 'mind, thinking'; cognate with English 'mind', German 'Mensch'). The word crystallized as 'human' by metonymy from the ancestor-figure. dhamma (< *dharmā-) comes from √dhṛ 'to hold, bear' (Sanskrit dhṛ, Latin ferō 'I bear', English 'bear'), and means both the law one holds and the nature one bears — hence 'nature, principle, doctrine'.

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

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