sutta.stream

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orapāraṁ

orapāra

accusative singular neuter of orapāra (adj.)

  1. this side and the other side
  2. both shores
  3. near and far

Built from

Analysis. ora (this side, near shore) + pāra (far shore, other side); compounds the near and far banks of a river, used metaphorically for saṃsāra and nirvana, or states of bondage and liberation.

Etymology. ora from ava-ra (down-turned, lowered, hence near); pāra from Sanskrit pāra (far shore), cognate with Latin portus (harbor) and English ford. The compound merges spatial opposites to express Buddhist duality of bondage and release.

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

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