‹ Back to the text

sukatadukkaṭānaṁ

sukatadukkaṭa

genitive plural of sukatadukkaṭa (compound adjective); the form shows the word 'sukatadukkaṭānaṁ' as attested in texts, though sukatadukkaṭa is the underlying lemma

1. (of beings) experiencing ease and difficulty
2. having pleasant and painful experiences
3. subject to both happiness and suffering

Built from

• su- — prefix · well, good
  The positive prefix su-, from Indo-European *su (Greek eu-, Latin su-), marks prosperity and favor.
• kata — stem · done, made
  Past participle of √kar (to make, do); here expressing the passive sense 'made, brought about' by action or karma.
• du- — prefix · bad, hard
  The privative prefix du- (Greek dys-, English dys-) marks difficulty, badness, or things gone wrong.
• kata — stem · done, made
  Repetition of the same participial stem, now qualified by du-, creating a balanced binomial compound.
• ānaṁ — ending · genitive plural
  The genitive plural ending -ānaṁ marks possession or attribution in the plural; here attributing the mixed experience to multiple sentient beings.

Analysis. Compound: sukatadukkataṁ = su-kata (well-done, happiness) + du-kata (badly-done, suffering); the genitive plural 'sukatadukkaṭānaṁ' refers to beings undergoing both pleasant and unpleasant karmic results. In doctrinal contexts, this describes sentient beings in the round of rebirth experiencing the mixed fruits of action.

Etymology. su- (well) + kata (done, made, from √kar) + du- (badly, poorly) + kata; parallel to sukha/dukkha (happiness/suffering). The compound reflects the Buddha's teaching that conditioned existence alternates between ease and difficulty as the natural consequence of kamma (action).

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version