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sacchikiriyāya

sacchikiriyā

fem instr sg of sacchikiriyā (noun); fem dat sg of sacchikiriyā (noun); fem abl sg of sacchikiriyā (noun); fem gen sg of sacchikiriyā (noun); …

1. personal experience; intimate experience; personal realization (of); lit. personally doing

Built from

• sacchi — prefix · in person, visibly
  From sakkhi (witness); emphasizes direct witnessing and personal presence rather than hearsay or intellectual knowledge.
• kiriyā — stem · action, doing
  Feminine agent noun from √kar (to make, do); here denotes the action or process of realization when performed personally and directly.

Analysis. sacchi- (prefix meaning 'visibly, in person, before one's eyes') + kiriyā (action, doing); literally 'action done in person' or 'visible doing'. The prefix sacchi- derives from sakkhi (witness, one who sees), emphasizing direct, experiential knowledge rather than intellectual understanding.

Etymology. Sacchi- is built from the root √sac (to follow, perceive, witness), related to Sanskrit sākṣin (witness) and Sanskrit sākṣād (face-to-face, directly). The concrete imagery moves from 'following with the eye' to 'witnessing directly' to 'in person, before one's eyes'. Kiriyā derives from √kar (to make, do). The word captures the doctrinal distinction between paññatti (conceptual knowledge) and sacchikiriyā (direct, lived realization)—central to Buddhist practice where theoretical understanding must be personalized through meditation and experience.

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

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