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piṇḍakena
piṇḍaka
masc instr sg of piṇḍaka (noun)
- alms food
Built from
- piṇḍ — root · roll, form into a ball
The root imagery is physical: shaping formless material into a compact mass. Sanskrit piṇḍa 'lump, morsel' shows the same root.
- a — ending · nominative stem
Masculine -a stem marker, establishing the nominal base piṇḍa.
- ka — ending · diminutive suffix
The suffix -ka softens or miniaturizes: piṇḍaka 'little lump', the concrete food offering.
- ena — ending · instrumental singular
The instrumental case ending -ena marks the alms-food as the means or instrument in the context (with, by means of, in the form of).
Etymology. From √piṇḍ- 'to roll, form into a ball', akin to Sanskrit piṇḍa. The -ka suffix forms diminutives; the word names the round or lump-shaped alms-rice that monks receive. No certain Indo-European cognate.