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sammadaññāvimutto

sammadaññāvimutta

masc nom sg of sammadaññāvimutta (adj)

1. who is liberated by perfect understanding; who is freed through complete comprehension; epithet of an arahant

Built from

• saṃ — prefix · together, completely
  Brings things into one; marks the unity and completeness of right understanding. Cognate with English 'same' and Latin con-.
• ma — prefix · rightly, well
  Intensifier marking moral and intellectual rightness. Related to √mā 'measure, fit'.
• dañ — root · know, understand
  The core meaning of knowing; related to Sanskrit dhi 'intellect'. Knowledge in the Buddhist sense is both intellectual and salvific.
• ñā — stem · knowing (feminine abstract)
  Nominalizing suffix creating the feminine abstract noun dañña/ñāṇa 'knowledge'. Marks the mental faculty of understanding.
• vi — prefix · apart, asunder
  Marks the clarity and distinctness of insight; things seen separately in their true nature. Works like Latin dis- to show analytical discernment.
• mutta — stem · freed, released
  Past participle of √muc 'to release, free', from the root meaning 'to move away' or 'to loose'. This ending indicates the state of liberation achieved through understanding.

Analysis. saṃ-ma-dañ-ñā-vi-mutta: 'together-rightly-knowing-apart-released'. A compound of sammadañña (perfect understanding, full comprehension) and vimutta (freed, released). sammadañña itself breaks down as saṃ-ma-dañña (saṃ 'together' + ma 'rightly' + √dañ 'to know'), emphasizing knowledge that brings things into unified right understanding. The vimutta element (vi-mutta) adds the sense of being released or freed apart from all bonds. Together the compound describes one who is released precisely through the arising of perfect understanding—the standard doctrinal state of an arahant who has reached the fourth and final fruit.

Etymology. Compound of saṃ + √dañ (to know; related to Sanskrit dhi 'intellect') and vi + √muc (to release; cognate with English 'muck' in the sense 'remove', and Latin moveo 'move away'). The spatial imagery of saṃ (things brought together into unity) and vi (things parted asunder into clarity) gives the compound its force: knowledge and freedom are inseparable in liberation.

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

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