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saṅkilesadhammaṁyeva

adverbial phrase (sg. acc. masc. + eva emphatic particle); compound of saṅkilesa-dhamma + eva

1. defiling states/qualities alone
2. corrupting phenomena especially
3. defilement-dharmas only

Built from

• saṅ — prefix · together, completely
  Brings things into one; here intensifies the notion of defilement as a unified corrupting force.
• kilesa — root · defilement, affliction
  From √klis 'to torment'; the image is of mental states that soil or muddy the mind.
• dhamma — stem · quality, state, phenomenon
  From √dhā 'to place'; in Buddhist doctrine, dhamma denotes both eternal principles and momentary mental/physical phenomena.
• yeva — ending · only, alone (emphatic)
  Contraction of yam eva; the emphatic particle eva stresses that the defiling states, and only they, are the subject of concern.

Analysis. saṅkilesa (defilement, corruption) + dhamma (quality, state, phenomenon) + yeva (yam eva, 'that very', emphasis particle). A compound nominal phrase with emphatic eva attached, used to emphasize that the subject is defiling states specifically.

Etymology. saṅkilesa: from sam- (together) + kilesa (defilement, from Skt. kleśa 'affliction', related to √klis 'to torment'); kilesa itself may relate to √kledati 'becomes wet/soggy', hence 'muddied, corrupted' states. dhamma: from √dhā 'to place, hold', hence 'that which stands, a quality or phenomenon'. yeva: from yam eva, combining relative yam and emphatic eva.

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

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