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sāvakena

sāvaka

masc instr sg of sāvaka (noun)

1. disciple; pupil; follower; lit. hearer

Built from

• sāv — root · hears
  From Sanskrit √śru 'to hear', the root that names the faculty of hearing. The sense 'hearer' became the technical term for one who accepts the teaching by listening.
• -aka — ending · agent
  Pali nominal suffix forming agent nouns (one who does the action): sāvaka 'one who hears', hence 'disciple' or 'follower'. Attached to verbal roots to name the person performing the action.

Etymology. From √śru (Sanskrit śroti 'hears'), with the agent suffix -aka. The literal sense 'hearer' reflects one who hears the teaching. Cognate with Sanskrit śrotra 'ear' and English shear (both from Indo-European *skewr- 'to turn, cut'); the semantic path runs: *skewr- → 'to hear' (Lithuanian klausyti 'listen' from *kleu-; Greek kleos 'fame, rumor heard'). The agent noun formation -aka is productive in Pali: literally 'one who hears', hence 'disciple' in the community gathered to listen to the Buddha.

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

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