‹ Back to the text

pabbajitā

pabbajita

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

1. pabbajita (masc): monk; monastic; renunciant; renunciate; lit. went forth
2. pabbajita (pp): ordained; renounced (from); lit. went forth
3. pabbajitā (fem): nun; female monastic; woman renunciant; lit. went forth

Built from

• pa — prefix · forth, forward
  Intensifying and directional; the concrete sense of moving ahead and stepping out guides the meaning 'renouncing' and 'going forth into homelessness'.
• bhaṃj — root · break, depart
  The root captures the act of breaking away from household life. Related to Sanskrit bhaj- (to break, divide, share).
• ita — ending · past participle
  The -ita suffix forms the past participle used substantively here; it marks completed action and is used as a noun to denote the one who has gone forth.
• ā — ending · feminine nominative singular
  The feminine singular ending -ā marks the grammatical gender and case agreement for a woman who is the subject of the sentence.

Analysis. pabbajita is pa- + √bhaṃj- + -ita: pa- (forth, forward) + root meaning

Etymology. the past participle pabbajita (lit. 'gone forth') derives from pa- + √bhaj (to break, split, depart). The prefix pa- expresses forward motion and intensification; the root √bhaj carries the sense of breaking away or departing from household life. The feminine nominative singular pabbajitā refers to a woman who has undertaken this renunciation. The term is a doctrinal cornerstone: in the Canon, pabbajita marks the threshold between lay and monastic status, the decisive moment when one cuts ties to the household (lit. 'breaking forth') and enters the Buddhist order. Compare Sanskrit pravrajitā (fem. of pravrajita), from pra- + vraj- 'to depart'.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version