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vehapphalato

vehapphala

masc abl sg of vehapphala (noun); masc abl pl of vehapphala (noun); masc abl sg of vehapphala (adj)

1. name of a heavenly realm; name of a class of heavenly beings; lit. sky fruit
2. epithet of a class of devas; lit. sky fruit

Built from

• vehā — root · sky, ether
  From PIE *weg- (motion, way); Sanskrit vah- (to carry, bear, move). The concrete sense of sky as that which carries or sustains all motion.
• phala — root · fruit, result
  From PIE *bʰel- (to swell, bloom); Sanskrit phala, Greek φάλλος. Fruit as the ripened, swollen result; in Buddhist contexts, the karmic fruit or celestial reward.

Analysis. vehā (sky, ether) + phala (fruit): the realm or beings of the sky-realm, where the fruit is celestial reward or radiance.

Etymology. vehā from PIE *weg- (to move, way), related to Sanskrit vah- (carry, bear), Greek -veh- (vehicle); phala from PIE *bʰel- (to bloom, swell), related to Sanskrit phala (fruit), Greek φάλλος (phallos). The compound imagery: the sky (ether moving, bearing beings) + fruit (the ripened reward of merit).

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

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