"ta" in arahatta

[Coëmgenu]

[Split from another thread]

With the arising of the path of arahatta, bhava and avijjā āsava are destroyed.

If it please you, is the "ta" in arahatta here the same 'ta' what forms adjectives like in suññatā
?

[Dhammanando]

[Split from another thread]

With the arising of the path of arahatta, bhava and avijjā āsava are destroyed.

If it please you, is the "ta" in arahatta here the same 'ta' what forms adjectives like in suññatā
?

No, the ending is -tta (= Sanskrit -tva), the same as found in abstract nouns like naggattaṃ (the state of being naked, nakedness); nānattaṃ (the state of being diverse, diversity); mohattaṃ (the state of being deluded); sātattaṃ (sweetness), etc. As a former of abstract nouns it has the same function as -tā but the nouns that it forms are neuter rather than feminine.

If one wished to form a term for “arahantship” using the -tā suffix, then it would be arahantatā, but this is a very late and rare coinage found only in a couple of ṭīkās from Sri Lanka's mediaeval period.

For arahattaṃ there is also the commentarial nirukti:

Arahattaṃ attani asantaṃ ‘atthi me’ ti

“Arahantship means the non-existence of [the conceit] ‘This is mine’ within oneself.”