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rajena
raja
masc instr sg of raja (adj); nt instr sg of raja (adj); masc instr sg of rajas (noun)
- raja (adj): dusty; dirty; with dirt
- rajas (masc): (mental) impurity; defilement
- rajas (masc): dust; dirt
- rajas (masc): pollen; spore
- rajas (masc): trash; rubbish
Built from
- raj — root · color; stain; redden
The root √raj originally meant to tinge or redden, seen in Sanskrit rañjayati and Latin ruber (red). Applied to dust and dirt as things that color and obscure surfaces, then extended metaphorically to mental defilements that cloud consciousness.
- as — ending · nominative stem (masc)
The masculine nominative singular rajas appears in the instrumental rajena, preserving the nominal stem before the instrumental suffix -ena.
- ena — ending · instrumental singular
Instrumental ending -ena marks the means or instrument by which an action is performed, placing rajas in the instrumental case in this form.
Etymology. From √raj (to color, stain, redden), cognate with Latin ruber (red), Sanskrit rañj-; the sense shifts from the visual reddening of dust to dust itself as the particle that discolors and obscures. In Buddhist psychology, rajas (impurity) extends to mental obscuration—the dusty confusion that clouds insight.