1. house or hut, usually implying the comforts of living at home as opp. to anagāra homelessness or the state of a homeless wanderer (mendicant). See anagāriyā
   ■ Thus freq. in two phrases contrasting the state of a householder (or layman, cp gihin), with that of a religious wanderer (pabbajita) viz.

   1. kesamassuṃ ohāretvā kāsāyāni vatthāni acchādetvā agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajati “to shave off hair & beard, put on the yellow robes, and wander forth out of the home into the homeless state” DN.i.60 etc. cp. Cnd.172#ii. See also SN.i.185 (agārasmā anagāriyaṃ nikkhanta); MN.ii.55 (agāraṃ ajjhāvasatā); Snp.274, Snp.805 (˚ṃ āvasati), and with pabbajita DN.i.89, DN.i.115, DN.i.202, DN.i.230; Pv.ii.13#17
   2. of a “rājā cakkavattin” compared with a “sambuddha”: sace agāraṃ āvasati vijeyya paṭhaviṃ imaṃ adaṇḍena asatthena… sace ca so pabbajati agārā anagāriyaṃ vivaṭacchado sambuddho arahā bhavissati “he will become the greatest king when he stays at home, but the greatest saint when he takes up the homeless life”, the prophesy made for the infant Gotama DN.ii.16; Snp.1002, Snp.1003
      ■ Further passages for agāra e.g. Vin.i.15; DN.i.102 (BB. has variant reading agyāgāra, but DN-a.i.270 expl. as dānāgāra); AN.i.156, AN.i.281; AN.ii.52 sq. Dhp.14, Dhp.140; Ja.i.51, Ja.i.56; Ja.iii.392; Dpvs.i.36.

2. anagāra (adj.) houseless, homeless; a mendicant (opp. gahaṭṭha Snp.628 = Dhp.404; Snp.639, Snp.640 (+ paribbaje); Pv.ii.2#5 (= anāvāsa Pv-a.80)
   ■ (nt.) the homeless state (= anagāriyā) Snp.376. See also agga².

3. -āgāra: Owing to freq. occurrence of agāra at the end of compounds of which the first word ends in a, we have a dozen quite familiar words ending apparently in āgāra. This form has been considered therefore as a proper doublet of agāra. This however is wrong. The long ā is simply a contraction of the short a at the end of the first part of the cpd. with the short a at the beginning of agāra Of the compounds the most common are: āgantuk˚; reception hall for strangers or guests SN.iv.219; SN.v.21
   ■ itth˚ lady’s bower SN.i.58, SN.i.89
   ■ kūṭ˚; a house with a peaked roof, or with gables SN.ii.103 SN.ii.263; SN.iii.156; SN.iv.186; SN.v.43; AN.i.230; AN.iii.10, AN.iii.364; AN.iv.231; AN.v.21. -koṭṭh˚; storehouse granary DN.i.134 (cp. DN-a.i.295); SN.i.89. -tiṇ˚; a house covered with grass SN.iv.185; AN.i.101. -bhus˚; threshing shed, barn AN.i.241. -santh˚; a council hall DN.i.91; DN.ii.147; SN.iv.182; SN.v.453; AN.ii.207; AN.iv.179 sq. -suññ˚; an uninhabited shed; solitude SN.v.89, SN.v.157, SN.v.310 sq., SN.v.329 sq. AN.i.241 (variant reading for bhusâgāra); AN.iii.353; AN.iv.139, AN.iv.392, AN.iv.437, AN.v.88, AN.v.109, AN.v.323 sq.

cp. Sk. agāra, probably with the a-of communion; Gr. ἀγεἱρω to collect, ἀγορά market. Cp. in meaning & etym. gaha¹