iohannes wrote:Hello everyone,
I am near-ignorant of Sanskrit but
having a bit of linguistics under my belt, I'm a bit
confused as to why the morpheme translated to mean bliss in sukkhavati (the Pure
Land) and sugata (one of the epithets of the Buddha) are different but similar:
'sukkha-' vs. 'su'
Does the suffix '-kha' mean anything
Hi iohannes,
Here are some explanations. I'm quoting from what I read earlier, it may not be the thing you are looking for.
This is from Pāḷi, the Sanskrit tradition might define it in different ways.
First Sugata then Sukha :
Sugata : 'Well Gone' or 'Gone to Bliss' i.e. one who has reached a happy state of existence.
He is called Sugata (Sublime One) because of being gone to an excellent place( sundaraṃ ṭhānam gatattā )
Sundarañcesa ṭhānaṃ gato amataṃ nibbānanti sundaraṃ ṭhānaṃ gatattāpi sugato
It is to the excellent (
sundara) place that He has gone (
gata), to the deathless Nibbāna - thus He is sublime (
sugata) (because of having gone to an excellent place)
Sugato sugatattānam
Sugato sundaram pi ca
Nibbānaṃ sugatiṃ yan ti
Sugato nāma to namo
He is Sugata being self-disciplined,
Being beautiful He is Sugata,
In the sense of going to the good state of Nibbāna,
To Thee, the Sugata, my homage be.
(-
Nava Guṇa Gāthā : The Hymn of Nine Virtues)
{ Apart from this there are many explantions in the Visuddhimagga (Pg.196)
Further reading :
Buddhānussatikathā — Sugato – Which Speech does a Buddha Utter ? }
Sukha from the same text (Pg.139):
suṭṭhu vā khādati, khanati ca kāyacittābādhanti sukhaṃ
It thoroughly (
SUṭṭhu) devours (
KHĀdati), consumes (
KHAṇati), bodily (kāya) and mental (citta) affliction, thus it bliss (
sukha).
Sukha/sukhāvatī in the Sūtras,
Ārya-Sukhāvatīvyūha-Nāma-Mahāyāna-Sūtra :
Śāriputra kena kāraṇena sā lokadhātuḥ sukhāvatītyucyate ? tatra khalu punaḥ śāriputra sukhāvatyāṃ lokadhātau nāsti sattvānāṃ kāyaduḥkhaṃ na cittaduḥkham | apramāṇānyeva sukhakāraṇāni | tena kāraṇena sā lokadhātuḥ sukhāvatītyucyate ||
The Bhagavat said: O Śāriputra, why is that land called Utmost Bliss? The beings in that land suffer no physical (kāya) or mental (citta) suffering, but only limitless reasons for happiness/enjoy pleasures of various kinds. For this reason, that land is called Utmost Bliss (sukhāvatī).
