Dear Colleagues,

     Someone recently asked me the meaning of the Jain phrase "micchāmi dukkaḍam".  On most of the web sources, the explanation is given like this: micchā mi dukkaḍam (Skt. mithyā me duṣkr̥tam) meaning "May my evil deed be ineffective".  I am wondering whether micchāmi in this phrase is originally "mā+icchāmi" and the phrase meaning: "May I not wish evil."  In several textual contexts, micchāmi occurs with other first person singular verbs like khāmemi: मिच्छामि दुक्कडम् खामेमि सव्व जीवे, सव्वे जीवा खमंतु मे।  I will appreciate any light that our Prakrit scholars can shed on this.  With best wishes,

Madhav Deshpande