रजो
rajo
Say it: ra·jo
neuter
Sanskrit equivalent
rajaḥ
Meaning
(rajas) & Raja neuter
- Forms.
■ Both rajo & rajaṁ occur as noun & acc. sg., e.g. rajo at DN.ii.19; Snp verse 207, Snp verse 334; Ds.617; rajaṁ at Snp verse 275; Iti.83; once (in verse) rajo occurs as m, viz. Snp verse 662. The other cases are formed from the a-stem only, e.g. rajassa Snp verse 406; pl. rajāni Snp verse 517, Snp verse 974. In compound we find both forms, viz. - Meanings.
- (lit.) dust, dirt; usually wet, staining dust DN.ii.19 (tiṇa +); Snp verse 662 = Pv-a.116 (sukhumo rajo paṭivātaṁ khitto); Iti.83; Ds.617 (dhūmo +). adj. rāja˚: in sa˚ & a˚ vāta Vin.ii.209 Vism.31. The meaning “pollen” [Sk. raja, m.] may be seen in “raja-missakaṁ rasaṁ” at Dhp-a.i.375.
- (fig.) stain, dirt, defilement, impurity. Thus taken conventionally by the P. commentators as the 3-fold blemish of man’s character: rāga, dosa, moha, e.g. Mnd.505; Snp-a.255; Dhp-a.iii.485; or as kilesa-raja at Snp-a.479
■ Snp verse 207 (niketā jāyate rajo), Snp verse 334, Snp verse 665 (rajaṁ ākirasi, metaph.), Snp verse 974 (pañca rajāni loke, viz. the excitement caused by the 5 bāhirāni āyatanāni Mnd.505 Also in stanza rāgo rajo na ca pana reṇu vuccati (with dosa & moha; the same) Mnd.505 = Cnd.590 (slightly diff.) = Ja.i.117 = Vism.388, cp. Divy.491 with interesting variation
■ adj. raja˚; in two phrases apagata˚; Vv-a.236 & vigata˚; Mnd.505 ≈ free from defilement
■ On raja in similes see J.P.T.S. 1907, 126. Cp. vi˚
- Compounds.
- rajo-: ˚jalla dust and (wet) dirt, muddy dirt DN.ii.18; Vin.iii.70; Ja.iv.322; Ja.v.241; Mil.133, Mil.195 Mil.258, Mil.410; Snp-a.248, Snp-a.291. -jallika living in dirty mud designation of a class of ascetics MN.i.281; Ja.i.390 -dhātu “dust-element” (doubtful translation) DN.i.54, which DN-a.i.163 explains as “raja-okiṇṇa-ṭṭhānāni,” i.e. dusty places. Dial. trsl. “places where dust accumulates, Franke, Dīgha p. 57 as “Staubiges” but rightly sees a deeper, speculative meaning in the expression (Sānkhya doctrine of rajas?).
■ -mala dust & dirt Ja.i.24 -vajalla [this expression is difficult to explain. It may simply be a condensed phrase rajo ‘va jalla, or a redupl cpd. rajo + avajalla, which was spelt raj-ovajalla for ava˚ because of rajo, or represents a contamination of raj-avajalla and raj- ojalla, or it is a metric diaeresis of rajo-jalla] dust and dirt Dhp.141 (= kaddama-limpan ākārena sarīre sannicita-rajo Dhp-a.iii.77). -haraṇa dirt-taking, cleaning; wet rag, floor-cloth, duster Vin.ii.291; AN.iv.376; Ja.i.117; Dhp-a.i.245 - raja-reṇu dirt and dust Ja.iv.362; -vaḍḍhana indulgence in or increase of defilement Thig.343 (“fleshly lusts” trsl.) Thag-a.240 (= rāga-raj’ ādi-saṁvaḍḍhana)
- rajā-˚patha dusty place, dustiness, dust-hole DN.i.62, DN.i.250; SN.ii.219; DN-a.i.180 (here taken metaphorically: rāga-raj ādīnaṁ uṭṭhāna-ṭṭhānaṁ)
- rajas-: ˚sira with dusty head Snp verse 980; Ja.iv.184, Ja.iv.362, Ja.iv.371. See pankadanta
■ (e raj-: -˚agga a heap of dust, dirt Ja.v.187 (= rajakkhandha C.); fig. = kilesa Pp.65, Pp.68 (here perhaps nt of a distorted rajakkha? So Kern, Toevoegselen s. v.). -upavāhana taking away the dust (or dirt) Snp verse 391, Snp verse 392.
- rajo-: ˚jalla dust and (wet) dirt, muddy dirt DN.ii.18; Vin.iii.70; Ja.iv.322; Ja.v.241; Mil.133, Mil.195 Mil.258, Mil.410; Snp-a.248, Snp-a.291. -jallika living in dirty mud designation of a class of ascetics MN.i.281; Ja.i.390 -dhātu “dust-element” (doubtful translation) DN.i.54, which DN-a.i.163 explains as “raja-okiṇṇa-ṭṭhānāni,” i.e. dusty places. Dial. trsl. “places where dust accumulates, Franke, Dīgha p. 57 as “Staubiges” but rightly sees a deeper, speculative meaning in the expression (Sānkhya doctrine of rajas?).
raj, see rajati & rañjati. Vedic rajaḥ meaning: (a) space, as region of mist & cloud similar to antarīksa, (b) a kind of (shiny) metal (cp rajata); see Zimmer, Altind. Leben 55