tathagata means A term of address to a buddha. It carries an Arena rating of 1381, earned across 39 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tathagata ranks #204 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #1,101 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #6,400 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #8,970 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
tathagata is pronounced /təˈtɑːɡətə/.
Why “tathagata” is a great word
TATHAGATA — [Noun] A title for a buddha, most specifically Siddhartha Gautama, denoting one who has realized ultimate reality. Borrowed from Sanskrit तथागत (tathāgata), a compound whose precise etymology is debated, often interpreted as tathā ("thus") and gata ("gone") meaning "one who has thus gone," or tathā and āgata ("come") meaning "one who has thus come." Unlike "Buddha," a general title for any awakened being, or "Arhat," one who achieves nirvana by following a taught path, Tathagata is the self-referential term for the supreme discoverer and teacher of the path itself. It is the cool weight of an alms bowl in the dawn stillness; the footprint left on a riverbank after the waters have flowed on; the residual warmth of a seat just vacated beneath the Bodhi tree—a title that names not an arrival or a departure, but the enduring trace of a passage through the world.
Etymology
Borrowed from Sanskrit तथागत (tathāgata).
noun
- A term of address to a buddha.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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