The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

27. Shortened to maha in cpd. pit!maha (following a -- decl.) (paternal) grandfather PvA 41; & m!t!maha
(maternal) grandfather (q. v.). -- instr. mahat! Sn 1027. -- pl. nom. mahant! Sn 578 (opp. dahar!). -- loc.
mahati Miln 254. -- f. mah" -- 1. one of the 5 great rivers (Np.). -- 2. the earth. See separately. -- nt.
mahanta' used as adv., meaning "very much, greatly" J v.170; DhA iv.232. Also in cpd. mahantabh!va
greatness, loftiness, sublimity DhsA 44. -- Compar. mahantatara DhA ii.63, and with dimin. suffix ˚ka J
iii.237. -- The regular paraphrase of mah! in the Niddesa is "agga, se&&ha, visi&&ha, p!mokkha, uttama,
pavara," see Nd2 502. Note on mah! & cpds. -- A. In certain cpds. the combn with mah! (mah˚) has
become so established & customary (often through politeness in using mah!˚ for the simple term), that the
cpd. is felt as an inseparable unity and a sort of "antique" word, in which the 2nd part either does not occur
any more by itself or only very rarely, as mah' a**ava, which is more freq. than a**ava; mah' âbhisakka,
where abhisakka does not occur by itself; cp. mahânubh!va, mahiddhika,
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mahaggha; or is obscured in its derivation through constant use with mah!, like mahes" [mah+es", or "s"],
mahesakkha [mah+esakkha]; mahallaka [mah+*ariyaka]; mah!matta. Cp. E. great -- coat, Gr. a)rx˚ in a)rx -
- iatro/s=Ger. arzt. Only a limited selection of cpd. -- words is given, consisting of more frequent or
idiomatic terms. Practically any word may be enlarged & emphasized in meaning by prefixing mah!.
Sometimes a mah!˚ lends to special events a standard (historical) significance, so changing the common
word into a noun proper, e. g. Mah -- âbhinikkhammana, Mah!pav!ra*a. -- B. Mah! occurs in cpds. in (a)
an elided form mah before a & i; (b) shortened to maha˚ before g, d, p, b with doubling of these
consonants; (c) in the regular form mah!˚: usually before consonants, sometimes before vowels. This form
is contracted with foll. i to e and foll. u to o. In the foll. list of cpds. we have arranged the material
according to these bases. mah˚: -- aggha very costly, precious Pug 34; Mhvs 27, 35; PvA 77, 87; Sdhp 18. -
- agghat! costliness, great value Pug 34, Sdhp 26. -- a**ava the (great) ocean Mhvs 19, 17. -- atthiya (for
˚atthika) of great importance or use, very useful, profitable J iii.368. -- andhak!ra deep darkness Vism 417.
-- ass!sin fully refreshed, very comfortable S i.81. maha˚: -- ggata "become great," enlarged, extensive, fig.
lofty, very great M i.263; ii.122; A ii.63, 184; iii.18; VvA 155; J v.113; Dhs 1020 (trsln: "having a wider
scope") Vbh 16, 24, 62, 74, 126, 270, 326; Tikp. 45; Vism 410, 430 sq. (˚!ramma*a); VbhA 154 (id.), 159
(˚citta); DhsA 44. See on term Cpd. 4, 12, 55, 1014; [cp. BSk. mahadgata Divy 227]. -- gghasa eating
much, greedy, gluttonous A iv.92; P iii.111 (=bahubhojana PvA 175); Miln 288; Dh 325 (cp. DhA iv.16). --
ddhana having great riches (often combd with mah!bhoga) Dh 123; J iv.15, 22. -- pphala much fruit; adj.
bearing much fruit, rich in result A iv.60, 237 sq.; Sn 191, 486; Dh 312, 356 sq. -- bbala (a) a strong force,
a great army Mhvs 10, 68 (v. l., T. has mah! -- bala); (b) of great strength, mighty, powerful J iii.114; Mhvs
23, 92; 25, 9. -- bbhaya great fear, terror S i.37; Sn 753, 1032, 1092, ep. Nd2 501. mahå˚: -- anas kitchen
Mhvs 5, 27 (spurious stanza). -- anasa kitchen J ii.361; iii.314; v.368; vi.349; DhA iii.309; ThA 5. -- anila a
gale Mhvs 3, 42. -- !nisa'sa deserving great praise (see s. v.), [cp. BSk. mah!nu$a'sa MVastu iii.221]. --
!nubh!va majesty, adj. wonderful, splendid J i.194; J vi.331; Pv iii.31; PvA 117, 136, 145, 272. --
apar!dhika very guilty J i.114. -- abhinikkhama*a the great renunciation DhA i.85. -- abhisakka [abhi+$ak]
very powerful Th 1, 1111. -- amacca chief minister Mhvs 19, 12. -- araha costly Mhvs 3, 21; 5, 75; 27, 39;
PvA 77, 141, 160. mah!˚: -- alasa great sloth DhA iii.410. -- av"ci the great Purgatory Av"ci, freq. -- isi in
poetry for mahesi at J v.321. -- upa&&h!na great state room (of a king) SnA 84. -- up!sik! a great female
follower (of the Buddha) VvA 5. -- karu*! great compassion DhA i.106, 367. -- k!ya a great body Miln 16.
-- ga*a a great crowd or community DhA i.154. -- ga*.a a large tumour VbhA 104. -- gedha great greed Sn
819; Nd1 151. -- c!ga great liberality, adj. munificent Mhvs 27, 47. As ˚paric!ga at SnA 295 (=mah!d!na).
-- jana a great crowd, collectively for "the people," a multitude PvA 6, 19, 78; Mhvs 3, 13. -- ta*ha (adj.)
very thirsty J ii.441. -- tala "great surface," the large flat roof on the top of a palace (=upari -- p!s!da -- tala)
J vi.40. -- d!na (see under d!na) the great gift (to the bhikkhus) a special great offering of food & presents
given by laymen to the Buddha & his followers as a meritorious deed, usually lasting for a week or more
Mhvs 27, 46; PvA 111, 112. -- dhana (having) great wealth PvA 3, 78. -- naraka (a) great Hell, see naraka. -
- n!ga a great elephant Dh 312; DhA iv.4. -- n!ma N. of a plant Vin i.185; ii.267. -- nidd! deep sleep PvA
47. -- nibb!na the great N. DhA iv.110. -- niraya (a) great hell SnA 309, 480; PvA 52. See Niraya & cp.
Kirfel, Kosmographie 199, 200. -- n"la sapphire VvA 111. -- pañña very wise D iii.158; A iii.244; Dh 352;
DhA iv.71. -- patha high road D i.102; Sn 139; Dh 58; Vism 235; DhA i.445. -- paduma a great lotus J
v.39; also a vast number & hence a name of a purgatory, cp. Divy 67; Kirfel, Kosmographie 205. -- pit!