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paribbājakānaṁ

paribbājaka

genitive plural masculine

1. wanderer, ascetic
2. homeless mendicant
3. one who wanders seeking spiritual truth

Built from

• pari — prefix · around, all round
  Spatial prefix suggesting complete, encompassing motion or understanding. Works like Greek peri- (perimeter).
• bbājaka — stem · wanderer
  Derived from √bhaj (to wander, to share); -ka is a suffix forming agent nouns. The doubled b is the result of sandhi assimilation where pari- (ending in -i) meets the root beginning with bh-.
• aṁ — ending · genitive plural
  Marks the genitive plural, showing possession or relation to a larger group (e.g., "of the wanderers").

Analysis. pari- (around, all the way round) + bbājaka (from root bhaj "to wander, share"), literally "one who wanders all around"; the doubling of b is sandhi.

Etymology. pari + √bhaj. The prefix pari conveys the sense of complete, circling movement; √bhaj (Sanskrit bhaj) means to wander or to share in, cognate with English "bay" in the sense of a marked area one moves through. The word evokes the ancient ascetic practice of wandering from place to place in search of wisdom.

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

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