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saggaṁ

sagga

accusative singular masculine of sagga

  1. heaven, the heavens
  2. paradise
  3. celestial realm

Analysis. sagga is not a compound; it is the Pali reflex of Sanskrit svarga, from the Indo-European root *suer- 'to shine' or 'to burn', also underlying Sanskrit sūrya 'sun'. The word originally denoted the bright, shining realm above.

Etymology. From *suer- 'shine, burn' (cognate with English swear in its archaic sense of 'shine', and Sanskrit sūrya 'sun'). The shift from *svar- to sagga reflects Pali's phonetic development of sibilants and the reduction of initial clusters. In Buddhist doctrine, sagga is the reward for merit-making and virtuous conduct (puññakamma), one of the five destinations of rebirth; beings reborn in sagga enjoy sensory pleasures but remain within saṁsāra and subject to dukkha.

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

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