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nigaṇṭhesu

nigaṇṭha

masc loc pl of nigaṇṭha (noun)

1. Jain; naked ascetic; lit. free from ties
2. epithet of Mahāvīra; lit. free from ties

Built from

• ni — prefix · out, away
  Spatial sense of outward motion and removal; here indicating freedom from or absence of bonds.
• gaṇṭha — root · bond, tie, knot
  Related to Sanskrit granthi and √grath (to bind). Cognate with English 'gird' and 'grid'; the concrete sense of knotted or woven restraint.

Analysis. ni- (out, away from) + gaṇṭha (bond, tie), literally 'without bonds'; applied to Jain ascetics and especially to Mahāvīra, the 24th Jina, emphasizing their renunciation of worldly and karmic fetters.

Etymology. ni- (out, away) + gaṇṭha (bond, knot). The root √grath (to bind, knot) appears in Sanskrit granthi (knot, tie), grath- (to tie); cognate with English gird, grid. The prefix ni- gives the sense of liberation from external constraints.

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

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