དག་སླང་ལ་རབ་ཏ་གཅས་པའ་མད་ཞས་བྱ་བ notes.23

notes.23

23. This may be a play on the Sanskrit words bhikṣu and vibhūṣaṇa (“adornment”), which sound similar. The Buddha seems to be defining bhikṣu by pointing to an etymology based in wordplay, suggesting that bhikṣu and “adornment” come from the same root (Skt. dhātu) and therefore bhikṣu means “adornment.” Without the original Sanskrit text, we cannot confirm that the word for “adornment” is a semi-homophone to bhikṣu. Thus, while our interpretation remains speculative, it is in accord with the frequent wordplay in the rest of the sūtra. If this interpretation is correct, the Buddha here is adding a new etymology of the word “mendicant” (not found in other discourses) to the list of classic etymological definitions of the term just rehearsed in the preceding paragraph.