Gati, Agati, Āgati
Going, Course; Destiny, Fate
References:
AN 4. 17, 18, 19, 20.
* indicates unchecked, unstandardized external referencing system
'Gati' is derived from 'gacchati'; essentially 'going', but serves also for the way employed in going, the fact of having ended up in a place got to when one has gone that way, and the nature of that state. Two words can fit all that. So 'course' or 'going' for the process; and 'destiny' or 'fate' for the result would give us terms that do not conflict with the goal. However it looks like the problem here is in finding a way to translate the reverse: 'non-destiny' having no destination, and/or 'bad destiny' and 'wrong-way'. How we get to 'wrong' from 'non or not' requires a little imagination. Think 'how do I say 'this is a bad place to go!' or 'this is a bad way to go!' the fastest/shortest way possible? "Not Go!"? Or the European 'No Go' sign? Then there is āgati. literally: to-going (think: from-going and to-going). We say 'coming'. PED does not have a separate listing for 'agati' other than it's meaning as a house with a peaked roof.
| Pāḷi | MO | Hare | Horner | Punnaji | Bodhi | Nanamoli | Rhys Davids | (Mrs)Rhys Davids | Thanissaro | Upalavana | Walshe | Woodward | Warren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gati; agati; āgati | going, getting; destiny | bourn | course | course | bourn |
Pāḷi Text Society
Pāḷi English Dictionary
Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede
[EDITED ENTRY]
Gati (f.) [from gacchati; cp. Gr. βάσις, Latin (in-) ventio, Goth. (ga-)qumps] 1. going, going away, (opp. āgati coming) (both gati and āgati usually in pregnant sense of No. 2. See āgati); direction, course, career. Freq. of the two careers of a Mahāpurisa (viz. either a Cakkavatti or a Buddha) ... the course, flight of birds ... "he knows her going away, i. e. where she has gone"
2. going away, passing on ( = cuti, opp. upapatti coming into another existence); course, esp after death, destiny, as regards another (future) existence A I.112; D II.91; M I.388 (tassa kā gati ko abhisamparāyo what is his rebirth and what his destiny*); in combination āgati vā gati vā ( = cutūpapatti), rebirth and death M I.328, 334. In defn. of saṅsāra explained as gati bhav¢bhava cuti upapatti = one existence after the other ... - The Arahant as being beyond Saṅsāra is also beyond gati ... and Nibbāna coincides with release from the gatis ... - attā hi attano gati "everybody is (the maker of) his own future life" ... esā maccharino gati "this is the fate of the selfish" ... sabbagatī te ijjhantu "all fate be a success to you" ... gato so tassa yā gati "he has gone where he had to go (after death)"
3. behaviour, state or condition of life, sphere of existence, element, especially characterized as sugati and duggati, a happy or an unhappy existence. gati migānaṃ pavanaṃ, ākāso pakkhīnaṃ gati, vibhavo gati dhammānaṃ, nibbānaṃ arahato gati: the wood is the sphere of the beasts, the air of the birds, decay is the state of (all) things, Nibbāna the sphere of the Arahant ... avijjāy' eva gati the quality of ignorance ... paramāya gatiyā samannāgato of perfect behaviour M I.82
4. one of the five realms of existence of sentient beings ( = loka), divided into the two categories of sugati ( = Sagga, realm of bliss) and duggati ( = Yamaloka, apāya, realm of misery). These gatis are given in the following order: (1) niraya purgatory, (2) tiracchānayoni the brute creation, (3) pittivisaya the ghost world, (4) manussā (m-loka) human beings, (5) devā gods: M I.73; D III.234; A IV.459; ... They are described in detail in the Pañcagatidīpana (ed. L. Feer, J.Pāli Text Society 1884, 152 sq.; trsl. by the same in Annales du Musee Guimet V. 514-528) under Naraka-kaṇḍa, Tiracchāna-, Peta-, Manussa-, Deva-. Of these Nos. 1-3 are considered duggatis, whilst Nos. 4 and 5 are sugati. In later sources we find 6 divisions, viz. 1-3 as above, (4) asurā, (5) manussā, (6) devā, of which 1-4 are comprised under apāyā (conditions of suffering, q. v.) or duggatiyo ... These six also at D III.264. ... The first two gatis are said to be the fate of the micchādiṭṭhino D I.228, ... whilst the last two are the share of the sīlavanto (A. I.60).
Āgati (f.) [ā + gati] coming, coming back, return S III.53; J II.172. Usually opp. to gati going away. Used in special sense of rebirth and re-death in the course of saṅsāra. Thus in āgati gati cuti upapatti D I.162; A III.54 sq., 60 sq., 74; cp. also S II.67 ...
A Dictionary of the Pāḷi Language
Robert Caesar Childers
[EDITED ENTRY]
Agati Wrong course, evil course or state, misfortune. Agatigamanam, evil courses.
Gati Going, journey, march; course; refuge, resting-place, abode; way of turning out, result, issue, consummation; mode of re-birth after death, state of existence, future state, destiny; re-birth, transmigration, existence; good state, safety, happiness; discretion, prudence, wisdom.
Pāḷi Text Society
A Dictionary of Pāli
Margaret Cone
[EDITED ENTRY]
Gati 1. going, moving; gait; progress, movement A I 1124 ...
2. where one goes or has gone; course, path; way, method. M I 15424 ... Dhp 92 ... Ja III 35517 ... V 4425 ...
3. where one goes, where one moves; one's sphere ... D III 26414 ... S IV 19726 ... A II 16135 ... Ja VI 464
4. where one goes to: one's destination: a refuge, a recourse; ... Dhp 380 ... Ja IV 29314
5. where one goes in life, one's career, destiny; what happens to one; outcome, issue; ... Vin III 1423 ... D II 1613 ... Sn 1001 ... Ja I 5618 III 6510
6. where one goes after death; one's future course, state of existence ... Vin I 29334 ... D I 16215 ...
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
A Critical Pāli Dictionary
V. Trenckner, Dines Andersen and Helmer Smith
[EDITED ENTRY]
Agati 1. not coming, not admittance, MN I 15829, (Mārisa) [does not equal] SN I 13321 (Spk); Ja V 25516 (~ yattha pakkhinaṃ); — sometimes also designation of Nibbāna, Dhp-a III 1584 (sugatiṃ c'eva ~iṃ ca gacchanto); Ja V 48910 (dhammo hi sugatiṃ vā ~iṃ vā pāpeti, adhammo duggatiṃ), in both places with v.l. (B) nibbānaṃ.
2. (more frequently) = wrong course, doing the wrong and neglecting the good (= agati-gamana), catasso ~iyo chanda, dosa, moha, bhaya: Vism 68328 Vin I 33933 (chandā dosā mohā bhayā agatiṃ gantuṃ) ...
