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fun pali, AN 7.67 building on lesson of important vocabulary word 'karoti' (do)

important pali vocabulary word: karoti (do, did, d...


*Pari-k-kharoti [pariṣ+kṛ;] lit. to do all round, i. e. to make up, equip, adorn (cp. parikaroti); pp. parikkhata2 (q. v.); see also parikkhāra.  



First of all, kamma (action), karoti (do), san-khara (co-activities, fabrications, volitional formations) are all very closely related words, which all basically mean 'do', or 'make'. 

So this new word, pari-k-khāra, 
looks scary at first actually is composed of parts you already know. 
'pari' = all around
khāra = do, make. 
So 'equipment' is something you use to 'make' 'all around'. Makes sense right?


This passage is going to use pari-k-khāra in noun and adjective form.
The 'su' prefix as you recall means something along the lines of 'good'. 
so su-parikkhatam = 'well equipped'. 
nagara = fortress, 
nagara-parikkhārehi = fortress requisites/equipment. 

nagar-opama-suttaṃ (AN 7.67 - 🔗🔊)
Fortress-simile-discourse
♦ 67. “yato kho, bhikkhave, rañño paccantimaṃ nagaraṃ
“When ***, ******** (a) royal frontier fortress,
sattahi nagara-parikkhārehi su-parikkhataṃ hoti,
(with) seven fortress-equipment {is} well-equipped ****,
catunnañca āhārānaṃ ni-kāma-lābhī hoti
(then) four (types of) food {are} {obtained}-at-will,
a-kiccha-lābhī a-kasira-lābhī.
{obtained}-without-difficulty, {obtained}-without trouble.
idaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, rañño paccantimaṃ nagaraṃ
This is-called, ********, (a) royal frontier fortress
a-karaṇīyaṃ bāhirehi pacc-atthikehi paccā-mittehi.
(that can’t be) un-done (by) external foes (or) duplicitious-allies.

all of the words I've highlighted are closely related to our super important vocabulary word 'karoti' (do, make). 
The 'a' prefix as you recall often is a negation. 
And the 'su' prefix means 'good'. 

another fun word is paccā-mittehi.
That looks like some scary completely new word, but actually once you learn the meaning of the prefix, it will make sense.

Paccāmitta [paccā=Sk. pratyak, adv.;+mitta, cp. Ep. Sk. pratyamitra] lit. "back -- friend," adversary, enemy

So paccā prefix means 'back'
mitta = friend (metta = friendliness, is derived from mitta)
So 'back friend' is an enemy.
B. Thanissaro translated that word as 'duplicitous-allies', I'm not sure it's that specific in the sutta, since the PED gives it a more general meaning of 'enemy', but 'duplicitous allies' sure sounds way more cool and also happens to be a literal translation of prefix and root. 

So to review:

Today's quick mini lesson we learned that karoti (do, make) happens frequently and we can guess the meaning of many words when we learn to recognize the various conjugated and declined forms it can take. 

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