The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary - Tuninst.net

Initial o in Pali may represent a Vedic o or a Vedic au
(see ojas, cgha, etc.). Or it may be guna of u (see ola-
rika, opakammika, etc.). But it is usually a prefix representing
Vedic ava. The form in o is the regular use in
old Pali; there are only two or three cases where ava,
for metrical or other reasons, introduced. In post-canonical
Pali the form in ava is the regular one. For new formations
we believe there is no exception to this rule. But
the old form in o has in a few cases, survived. Though
o; standing alone, is derived from ava, yet compounds
with o are almost invariably older than the corresponding
compounds with ava (see note on ogamana).
Oka (nt.) [Vedic okas (nt.), fr. UC to like, thus orig.
"comfort", hence place of comfort, sheltered place, habit-
ation. The indigenous interpretation connects oka partly
with okasa i= fig. room (for rising), chance, occasion (thus
Nd' 487 on Sn 966: see anoka; SnA 573 ibid.; SnA
547: see anoka; Sn.\ 573 ibid.; .SnA
partly with udaka (as contraction): see
547: See below),
below on Dh 34.
Ueiger (/'. Gr. S 20) considers oka to be a direct contraction
of udaka (via *udaka, 'utka, ®ukka, *okka). The
customary synomym for oka (both lit. & fig.) is alaya]
resting place, shelter, resort ; house, dwelling ; fig. (this
meaning according to later commentators prevailing in
anoka, liking, fondness, attachment to (worldly things) S
111.9 = Sn 844 (okam pahaya; oka here is expl^ at SnA
547 by rupa-vatth' adi-vinnanass' okaso) ; .S v. 24 ^^ A v.
232 = Dh 87 (oka anokam agamma); Dh 34 (oka-m-okata
ubbhato, i. e. oka-m-okato from this & that abode, from
all places, thus taken as okato, whereas Bdhgh. takes it
as okasya okato and interprets the first oka as contracted
form of udaka, water, which happens to fit in with the
sense required at this passage, but is not warranted otherwise
excpt by Bdhgh's quotation "okapuijnehi civarehi ti
etlha udakaq". This quot. is taken from Vin 1.253, which
must be regarded as a corrupt passage cp. remarks of
Bdhgh. on p. 387
: oghapunnehi ti pi patho. The rest of
his interpretation at DhA 1.289 runs: "okaij okai) pahaya
aniketa-sarl ti ettha alayo, idha (i. e. at Dh 34) ubhayam
pi labbhati okamokato udaka-sankhata alayS ti attho",
i.e. from the water's abode. Bdhgh's ex pi", is of course
problematic); Dh 91 (okam okaq jahanti 'they leave whatever
shelter they have", expld. by alaya DhA 11.170).
-cara (f. °carika J vi.416; "carika M 1.117) living in
the house (said of animals), i. e. tame (cp. same etyni.
of "tame" = Lat. domus, domesticus). The passage M 1.
117, 118 has caused confusion by oka being taken as
"water". But from the context as well as from C. on J
VI.41 6 it is clear that here a tame animal is meant by
means of which other wild ones are caught. The passage
at M 1.I17 runs "odaheyya okacaraq thapeyya okacarikaq"
i. e. he puts down a male decoy and places a
female (to entice the others), opp. "uhaneyya o. naseyya
o." i. e. takes away the male & kills the female.
-{fi)jaha giving up the house (and its comfort), renouncing
(the world), giving up attachment Sn lioi (= alayaqjahai)
SnA 598; cp. Nd^ 176 with v. 1. oghaqjaha). -anoka
houseless, homeless, comfortless, renouncing, free from
attachment : see separately.
Oka()