‹ Back to the text

upapajjeyyanti

upapajjati

3rd person plural optative

1. is reborn; re-arises (in); lit. goes towards
2. appears; arises; lit. goes towards
3. is suitable; is acceptable; is admissible; lit. goes towards

Built from

• upa — prefix · near, alongside
  Spatial sense of approach and proximity; grounds the sense of arriving at or entering into a new state.
• pad — root · go, fall, happen
  PIE *peh₂- (tread, go); related to English 'path', 'pad'. Here 'happens, becomes, befits'.
• ja — ending · is born, comes to be
  Suffix forming passive sense; combined with √pad to mean 'is born/comes to be'. The form pajjati is derived from √pad with this suffix.
• eyyanti — ending · would, should (optative plural)
  Optative mood, third person plural; expresses possibility, suitability, or what could/should come to pass.

Analysis. upa + pajjati: upa (near, alongside) + pajjati (happens, befits), literally 'comes about nearby' or 'draws near', hence in rebirth context 'comes to be reborn in a state', and in ethical context 'is fitting, acceptable'.

Etymology. √pad (fall, go) underlies pajjati; upa- shows approach and proximity. In rebirth doctrine (saṃsāra), upapajjati describes a being's reappearance in a new existence—the literal sense of 'going toward' (a destination) becomes the metaphor for transmigration. English cognates: pad (as in 'pathway'), pad itself < PIE *peh₂- (to tread); upa- relates to English 'up' and Greek hypo- (under, up close).

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

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