Bhagavā - what and who is bhagavā

[stephen]

@Dhammanando

The earliest indication is given in the Niddesa, a canonical commentary preserved in the Khuddaka Nikāya which gives a list of eighteen niruktis (explanations of a word’s meaning via ersatz etymologies).

Note the term ‘ersatz’ written by the Venerable.

These descriptions may be helpful for the practitioner, but should not be confused with a true etymology. They are a poetic derivation.