10.5: Having that, and made of that

bhagavā, “the Blessed One”, the word you meet on every page of the texts (3: 2.1, 5: 1.1, 7: 1.1, 9: 1.1), is literally “one who has good fortune”: bhaga (“good fortune”) with the affix vantu {368}. A whole family of words is built this way: a noun names a thing, the affix adds “having that” (tadassatthi, “he has that”), and the new word names whoever has it. sīlavā is one who has sīla (ethical conduct), virtuous; satimā one who has sati (mindfulness), mindful; āyasmā one who has āyu (life), venerable. Kaccāyana explains each by the phrase X yassa atthi (“of whom there is X”) and lists nine affixes {364}–{371}. When you meet such a word, ask what noun is left when the -vā, -mā or -ī is taken away, and who has it.

One more affix means “made of that” (tappakati): dārumayaṁ is “made of wood” {372}.

How to recognise a word meaning “having …”

affix	what you see	example	meaning	rule
`vantu`	`-vā` on a word in `a` or `ā`	`guṇavā`, `bhagavā`	has `guṇa` (virtue), `bhaga` (good fortune): virtuous, the Blessed One	{368}
`mantu`	`-mā` on a word in `i` or `u`; `āyu` becomes `āyas-` before it	`satimā`, `āyasmā`	has `sati` (mindfulness), `āyu` (life): mindful, venerable	{369}, {371}
`ī`, `ika`	`-ī` or `-iko` in place of the final vowel	`daṇḍī`, `daṇḍiko`	has a `daṇḍa` (staff)	{366}
`vī`	`-vī` on a word in `ā`; the rule’s `ca` adds `sa`, `-so`	`medhāvī`, `sumedhaso`	has `medhā` (wisdom): wise	{364}
`sī`	`-ssī`, the `s` doubled	`tapassī`	has `tapa` (austerity): an ascetic	{365}
`ra`	`-ro`	`madhuro`	has `madhu` (honey): sweet	{367}
`ṇa`	nothing you can see: the noun with `-o`; `ddh`, `ññ` keep the first vowel short (10.1)	`saddho`, `pañño`	has `saddhā` (faith), `paññā` (wisdom): faithful, wise	{370}
`maya`	`-maya` after the name of a material	`dārumayaṁ`	made of `dāru` (wood)	{372}

The vutti gives every word in the masculine ①; the word takes the gender of the noun it describes. Every rule number links to the full rule; Appendix H tables them all.

The shapes of a `-vantu` or `-mantu` word

Only the ① shows -vā or -mā. Before the other endings you see -vant- or -vat-, -mant- or -mat-, and the dictionary lists the word under the lemma bhagavant, āyasmant, as the symbol lines of chapters 3, 5, 7, 9 and the bonus chapter do:

ending	what you see	example	rule
①	`-vā`, `-mā`	`bhagavā` (3: 2.1, 7: 1.1), `sutavā` (9: 8.1), `āyasmā` (Bonus: 44, 1.3), `satimā` (Bonus: 40, 12.1)	{124}
②	`-vantaṁ`, `-mantaṁ`	`bhagavantaṁ`, `āyasmantaṁ` (Bonus: 44, 1.3)
③	`-vatā`, `-matā`	`bhagavatā` (5: 12.1, Bonus: 45, 9.5)	{127}
④ ⑥	`-vato`, `-mato`	`bhagavato` (7: 1.3: ④, 9: 10.2: ⑥)	{127}
① ⨂	`-vanto`, `-manto`	`guṇavanto`	{122}

Rule {127} is optional: guṇavantassa, guṇavantena, guṇavantasmiṁ occur beside guṇavato, guṇavatā, guṇavati.

Examples

guṇo yassa atthi → guṇavā

🚹⨀①(guṇo) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(vantu)(guṇavā)
virtue / of whom / there is → one who has virtue, virtuous
vantu {368}: guṇa + -vā; the lemma is guṇavant, and the ① ends in -vā {124}.

mati yassa atthi → matimā

🚺⨀①(mati) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(mantu)(matimā)
intelligence / of whom / there is → one who has intelligence, wise
mantu {369}: mati + -mā; the mantu words of the rule all end in i or u.

daṇḍo yassa atthi → daṇḍī

🚹⨀①(daṇḍo) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(ī)(daṇḍī)
a staff / of whom / there is → one who has a staff
ī {366}: the final a of daṇḍa gives way to -ī; daṇḍiko, with ika, means the same.

dārunā pakataṁ kammaṁ → dārumayaṁ

🚻⨀③(dārunā) 🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(pakataṁ) 🚻⨀①(kammaṁ) → 🚻⨀①🔽(maya)(dārumayaṁ)
with wood / made / a work → made of wood, wooden
maya {372}: -maya after the material dāru; neuter (🚻), agreeing with kammaṁ.

Exercises

Resolve each word into its noun and affix, and give its meaning; the first four you met in the texts, at the sentences linked. Look the words up in a dictionary and note the sense the affix carries.

bhagavā (3: 2.1, 7: 1.1)
āyasmā (Bonus: 44, 1.3)
satimā (Bonus: 40, 12.1)
sutavā (7: 11.1: sutavā ariyasāvako; also 9: 8.1)
paññavā
medhāvī

Answers

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

bhagaṁ yassa atthi → bhagavā

🚻⨀①(bhagaṁ) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(vantu)(bhagavā)
good fortune / of whom / there is → one who has good fortune, the Blessed One
vantu {368}: bhaga + -vā; the texts write the lemma bhagavant.

āyu assa atthi → āyasmā

🚻⨀①(āyu) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(assa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(mantu)(āyasmā)
life / his / there is → one who has life, venerable
mantu {369}: āyu + -mā, the u of āyu becoming asa before the affix {371}.

sati yassa atthi → satimā

🚺⨀①(sati) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(mantu)(satimā)
mindfulness / of whom / there is → one who has mindfulness, mindful
mantu {369}: sati + -mā; Bonus: 40, 12.1 has it in upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī.

sutavā ariyasāvako

🚹⨀①(sutavant) 🚹⨀①🆎(ariya+sāvaka)
learned / awakened disciple
vantu {368}: suta (learning, what is heard) + -vā, “one who has learning”; the lemma sutavant ends in -vā in the ① {124}.

paññā yassa atthi → paññavā

🚺⨀①(paññā) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(vantu)(paññavā)
wisdom / of whom / there is → one who has wisdom, wise
vantu {368}: paññā + -vā, the final ā shortened before the affix {403}.

medhā yassa atthi → medhāvī

🚺⨀①(medhā) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(yassa) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(atthi) → 🚹⨀①🔽(vī)(medhāvī)
wisdom / of whom / there is → one who has wisdom, wise
vī {364}: medhā + -vī; so too māyāvī (“deceitful”) from māyā.