Mokkhacika
Mokkhacika，（m．or °ā f．） [see on attempt at etym．Morris in J．P．T．S．1885，49 who takes mokkha as fr．muc “tumbling” & cika=“turning” fr．cak=cik．The word remains obscure，it must be a dialectical expression，distorted by popular analogy & taken perhaps from a designation of a place where these feats or toys had their origin．More probable than Morris’etym．is an analysis of the word （if it is Aryan） as mokkha= mokkha2，in meaning “head，top，” so that it may mean “head over，” top-first” & we have to separate *mokkhac-ika the °ika representing °iya “in the manner of，like” & --ac being the adv．of direction as contained in Sk．prāñc=pra-añc．] tumbling，turning somersaults，an acrobatic feat； in list of forbidden amusements at D．I，6 （cp．DA．I，86； samparivattaka-kīḷanaṁ，i．e．playing with something that rolls along，continuously turning? The foll．sentence however seems to imply turning head over heels：“ākāse vā daṇḍaṁ gahetvā bhūmiyaṁ vā sīsaṁ ṭhapetvā heṭṭh-upariya （so read!） --bhāvena parivattana-kīḷanaṁ”； i．e．trapeze-performing．Cp．Dial．I．10 & Vin．Texts II．184）．The list re-occurs at Vin．II，10 （°āya：f．! kīḷanti）； III，180； M．I，266≈and A．V，203 （with important v．l．mokkhaṭika，which would imply mokkha & ending tiya，and not °cika at all．The Cy．on this passage expls as：daṇḍakaṁ gahetvā heṭṭh-uppariya （sic．as DA．I，86； correct to upariya?） --bhāvena parivattana-kīḷanaṁ）．The word is found also at Vin．I，275，where the boy of a Seṭṭhi in Bārāṇasī contracts injuries to his intestines by “mokkhacikāya kīḷanto，” playing （with a） m．-- According to its use with kīḷati & in Instr．mokkhacikena （Nd2 219） may be either a sort of game or an instrument （toy），with which children play．（Page 541）