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vehapphale

vehapphala

masc acc pl of vehapphala (noun); masc loc sg of vehapphala (noun); masc acc pl of vehapphala (adj); nt acc pl of vehapphala (adj); …

1. name of a heavenly realm; name of a class of heavenly beings; lit. sky fruit
2. epithet of a class of devas; lit. sky fruit

Built from

• veha — root · sky, ether
  From PIE *wegʰ- 'swift motion'. The concrete sense of 'moving through air' evolved into the abstract idea of sky and space.
• phala — root · fruit, result, reward
  From PIE *bʰel- 'to swell, bloom'. The fruit as the visible, ripened outcome of a tree's growth; metaphorically, the ripened consequence of action.

Analysis. vehapphala is a dvandva or determinative compound: veha (sky, ether) + phala (fruit, result). The 'sky fruit' name reflects the Pali cosmology's understanding of the Vehapphala heavens as a celestial realm where rewards ripen, or perhaps as the 'fruiting' of meritorious action in the highest material heavens.

Etymology. vehapphala combines veha (sky, ether; from PIE *wegʰ- 'to move swiftly', cognate with English 'weigh' in its senses of motion and burden) with phala (fruit, result; from PIE *bʰel- 'to blow, swell', related to Latin folium 'leaf' and English 'blade'). The compound expresses the Buddhist mapping of celestial geography: fruits of karma ripening in the ethereal sphere.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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