<p>From the New Concise Pali English Dictionary:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kamma" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kamma</a> <em>neuter</em>
  work, occupation; activity, performance.
  act, deed, action or actions of moral import (producing for the agent an inevitable result or consequence in the same or another life; the action appears to exist in some sense until the effect is completed)
  an official act of the saṅgha (i.e. an action or ceremony agreed on and ratified by a properly constituted group of bhikkhus).</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kammanta" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kammanta</a>
  <em>masculine (&amp; n.)</em>
  action; work, task, business, occupation (esp. farming, agriculture); place of work (esp. the fields).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Perhaps kammanto is the nominative version of kammanta.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-20T15:51:35.207Z
2020-03-20T15:51:35.207Z
OyaMist
<p>From the New Concise Pali English Dictionary:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kamma" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kamma</a> <em>neuter</em>
  work, occupation; activity, performance.
  act, deed, action or actions of moral import (producing for the agent an inevitable result or consequence in the same or another life; the action appears to exist in some sense until the effect is completed)
  an official act of the saṅgha (i.e. an action or ceremony agreed on and ratified by a properly constituted group of bhikkhus).</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kammanta" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kammanta</a>
  <em>masculine (&amp; n.)</em>
  action; work, task, business, occupation (esp. farming, agriculture); place of work (esp. the fields).</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/define/kammanta" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kammanta</a> is the basic or 'stem' word for kammanta. </p>

<p>Note: In the sutta quote below, the word 'kammanta' has been translated as both 'work' &amp; 'workplace'. In the sutta below: </p>

<ul>
<li><p>'<strong>kammante</strong>' appears to be the <strong><em>accusative</em></strong> (object of a verb) <strong><em>case</em></strong> of 'kammanta' , i.e., "<em>supervising (verb; anusaññāyamāno) the work (object; noun; kammante)</em>"</p></li>
<li><p>'<strong>kammanto</strong>' is the <strong><em>nominative</em></strong> (subject) <strong><em>case</em></strong> of 'kammanta', i.e, "<em>Moggallāna’s workplace or Moggallāna’s work</em>".  </p></li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
  <p>For just then the brahmin Vassakāra, a chief minister of Magadha,
  while supervising <strong>the work</strong> [plural] at Rājagaha, approached Ānanda at
  Moggallāna’s <strong>workplace</strong> [singular] and exchanged greetings with him.</p>
  
  <p>Atha kho vassakāro brāhmaṇo magadhamahāmatto rājagahe <strong>kammante</strong>
  anusaññāyamāno yena gopakamoggallānassa brāhmaṇassa <strong>kammanto</strong>,
  yenāyasmā ānando tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā ānandena
  saddhiṃ sammodi.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In your situation, if you named your app 'The Work App' or 'Sunyata's Work App', the Pali would probably be (merely guessing) 'kammanta' because the word 'kammanta' would be an adjective and form the first part of a <em>khammadharaya</em> (merely guessing) word compound, as follows: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>When nouns join together with two or more words they are called
  nominal compounds or samāsa. The first member of a compound can be
  another noun, an adjective, an adverb, a pronoun, a verbal form, or a
  numeral. In general the last member of the compound gets inflected
  according to its declension while <strong>the other members keep their stem
  form</em></strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="http://host.pariyatti.org/plc/EngPaliGrammar_w.audio.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">book page 21</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Therefore, your app might be called: </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Kammanta-App (The Work App) </p></li>
<li><p>Suññatāya Kammanta-App (Sunyata's Work App)</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-21T06:10:34.137Z
2020-03-21T06:41:37.443Z
2020-03-21T06:41:37.443Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>They are basically the same word, though the <em>anta</em> suffix does give it some specific meaning. Remember that the word <em>karma</em> has heavy religious baggage in ancient India every though it simply means action, from the verbal root /<em>kar</em> = &quot;in regards to doing&quot;. So <em>kammanta</em> is a way of specifying that one is merely talking about actual mundane action or work. <em>kamma</em> is still often used to mean mundane  work, however, e.g.:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>tena kho pana samayena aññatarā itthī kammaṃ karoti. aññataro bhikkhu sāratto taṃ itthiṃ etadavoca -- “tiṭṭha, bhagini, ahaṃ karissāmīti</p>
<p>At one time, a certain woman was doing some work. A certain bhikkhu, enamoured with that woman, said this to her: &quot; Rest, sister, I will do it.&quot;</p>
<p>(duṭṭhullavācāsikkhāpadaṃ)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nouns in Pali and Sanskrit are &quot;declined&quot;, meaning their endings change depending on how they are used. -o declension is used in Pali for masculine singular nominative (when it is the subject of the sentence) of -a nouns. That's where <em>kammanto</em> comes from.</p>
<p>As to the idea of a task, something one must or should do, there are words like <em>karaṇiya</em> and <em>katabba</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-23T17:30:43.090Z
Hi and thank you for your help! I wanted to ask because i'm confused: [access to insight is using *kammanto* when describing right action](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-kammanto/index.html), wouldn't it be better to use *kammanta* if that is gender-neutral? Or can kammanto be used also in a gender-neutral way? (Grammar is not my strong suite). Grateful for help with this!
sunyata
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-23T18:32:17.263Z
The word is masculine either way; changing the ending to o just means it's the subject of the sentence.
yuttadhammo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-26T08:04:40.690Z
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/107210/discussion-on-answer-by-yuttadhammo-difference-between-kamma-kammanto-and-kamm).
ChrisW
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-26T08:18:41.983Z
2020-03-26T08:30:39.613Z
2020-06-17T09:56:10.877Z
yuttadhammo
<h3>Question</h3>

<p>Hi all, i would like to ask if anyone knows the difference in meaning between these three pali words:</p>

<ul>
<li>Kamma</li>
<li>Kammanto</li>
<li>Kammanta</li>
</ul>

<h3>What i've found so far</h3>

<p>I can see from looking at the pali words for "right action" that this is called "samma kammanto" (sometimes "samma kammanta"), so i'm guessing that these two are the same?</p>

<p>I'm also guessing that Kamma is a more general term which includes speech and thought/intention as well as physical action?</p>

<h3>Context</h3>

<p>I'm building a to-do-list and life-organizing application and since i have a Buddhist background i'd like to give the application a name inspired by Buddhism</p>

<karma><pali-language><pali><right-action>
Difference between Kamma, Kammanto, and Kammanta?
# Difference between Kamma, Kammanto, and Kammanta?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-20)

### Question

Hi all, i would like to ask if anyone knows the difference in meaning between these three pali words:

* Kamma
* Kammanto
* Kammanta

### What i've found so far

I can see from looking at the pali words for "right action" that this is called "samma kammanto" (sometimes "samma kammanta"), so i'm guessing that these two are the same?

I'm also guessing that Kamma is a more general term which includes speech and thought/intention as well as physical action?

### Context

I'm building a to-do-list and life-organizing application and since i have a Buddhist background i'd like to give the application a name inspired by Buddhism

**Tags:** karma, pali-language, pali, right-action


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-03-26. Score: 4

They are basically the same word, though the *anta* suffix does give it some specific meaning. Remember that the word *karma* has heavy religious baggage in ancient India every though it simply means action, from the verbal root /*kar* = "in regards to doing". So *kammanta* is a way of specifying that one is merely talking about actual mundane action or work. *kamma* is still often used to mean mundane work, however, e.g.:

> tena kho pana samayena aññatarā itthī kammaṃ karoti. aññataro bhikkhu sāratto taṃ itthiṃ etadavoca -- “tiṭṭha, bhagini, ahaṃ karissāmīti
>
> At one time, a certain woman was doing some work. A certain bhikkhu, enamoured with that woman, said this to her: " Rest, sister, I will do it."
>
> (duṭṭhullavācāsikkhāpadaṃ)

Nouns in Pali and Sanskrit are "declined", meaning their endings change depending on how they are used. -o declension is used in Pali for masculine singular nominative (when it is the subject of the sentence) of -a nouns. That's where *kammanto* comes from.

As to the idea of a task, something one must or should do, there are words like *karaṇiya* and *katabba*.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hi and thank you for your help! I wanted to ask because i'm confused: [access to insight is using *kammanto* when describing right action](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-kammanto/index.html), wouldn't it be better to use *kammanta* if that is gender-neutral? Or can kammanto be used also in a gender-neutral way? (Grammar is not my strong suite). Grateful for help with this!  
> **username_3**: The word is masculine either way; changing the ending to o just means it's the subject of the sentence.  
> **username_4**: Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/107210/discussion-on-answer-by-username_3-difference-between-kamma-kammanto-and-kamm).  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-20. Score: 3

From the New Concise Pali English Dictionary:

> [kamma](https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kamma) *neuter*
> work, occupation; activity, performance.
> act, deed, action or actions of moral import (producing for the agent an inevitable result or consequence in the same or another life; the action appears to exist in some sense until the effect is completed)
> an official act of the saṅgha (i.e. an action or ceremony agreed on and ratified by a properly constituted group of bhikkhus).
>
> [kammanta](https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kammanta)
> *masculine (& n.)*
> action; work, task, business, occupation (esp. farming, agriculture); place of work (esp. the fields).

Perhaps kammanto is the nominative version of kammanta.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-21. Score: 2

From the New Concise Pali English Dictionary:

> [kamma](https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kamma) *neuter*
> work, occupation; activity, performance.
> act, deed, action or actions of moral import (producing for the agent an inevitable result or consequence in the same or another life; the action appears to exist in some sense until the effect is completed)
> an official act of the saṅgha (i.e. an action or ceremony agreed on and ratified by a properly constituted group of bhikkhus).
>
> [kammanta](https://suttacentral.net/search?query=kammanta)
> *masculine (& n.)*
> action; work, task, business, occupation (esp. farming, agriculture); place of work (esp. the fields).

[Kammanta](https://suttacentral.net/define/kammanta) is the basic or 'stem' word for kammanta.

Note: In the sutta quote below, the word 'kammanta' has been translated as both 'work' & 'workplace'. In the sutta below:

* '**kammante**' appears to be the ***accusative*** (object of a verb) ***case*** of 'kammanta' , i.e., "*supervising (verb; anusaññāyamāno) the work (object; noun; kammante)*"
* '**kammanto**' is the ***nominative*** (subject) ***case*** of 'kammanta', i.e, "*Moggallāna’s workplace or Moggallāna’s work*".

> For just then the brahmin Vassakāra, a chief minister of Magadha,
> while supervising **the work** [plural] at Rājagaha, approached Ānanda at
> Moggallāna’s **workplace** [singular] and exchanged greetings with him.
>
> Atha kho vassakāro brāhmaṇo magadhamahāmatto rājagahe **kammante**
> anusaññāyamāno yena gopakamoggallānassa brāhmaṇassa **kammanto**,
> yenāyasmā ānando tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā ānandena
> saddhiṃ sammodi.

In your situation, if you named your app 'The Work App' or 'Sunyata's Work App', the Pali would probably be (merely guessing) 'kammanta' because the word 'kammanta' would be an adjective and form the first part of a *khammadharaya* (merely guessing) word compound, as follows:

> *When nouns join together with two or more words they are called
> nominal compounds or samāsa. The first member of a compound can be
> another noun, an adjective, an adverb, a pronoun, a verbal form, or a
> numeral. In general the last member of the compound gets inflected
> according to its declension while **the other members keep their stem
> form***
>
> [book page 21](http://host.pariyatti.org/plc/EngPaliGrammar_w.audio.pdf)

Therefore, your app might be called:

* Kammanta-App (The Work App)
* Suññatāya Kammanta-App (Sunyata's Work App)


---

