Dear Nina and Bryan,

thank you for another interesting discussion. I agree with Bryan, this is simply a sandhi by convention.

aagatattha = aagataa attha, I guess the 'aaa' in the union aagataaattha results in the elision, thereby giving us 'aagatattha'.

'attha' is second person, plural, present indicative of 'atthi'.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Bryan Levman wrote:

Would it not just be aagata (past participle) + attha (second person plural, present indicative, with aa lengthened because of following -ti)?

This is a very common construction in Skt. Kimartham aagataa.h stha? (lit. "Why are you come?")

>> (5) "Atha te devii pucchi: Ki.m kaara.naa aagatatthaati?"

> N: Then the devas asked: why have you come?
> Not sure about aagatatthaa. The ending -atthaa points to a perfect tense?
> Ki.m kaara.naa: by reason of what, why.