Akkhaṇa [a + khaṇa, BSk. akṣaṇa AvŚ i.291 = 332] wrong time, bad luck, misadventure, misfortune. There are 9 enumd at D iii.263; the usual set consists of 8; thus D iii.287; VvA 193; Sdhp 4 sq. See also khaṇa.

-- vedhin (adj. n.) a skilled archer, one who shoots on the moment, i. e. without losing time, expld as one who shoots without missing (the target) or as quickly as lightning (akkhaṇa = vijju). In var. combns.; mostly as durepātin a. A i.284 (+ mahato kāyassa padāletā); ii.170 sq. (id.), 202; iv.423, 425; J ii.91 (expld as either "avirādhita<11> -- vedhī" or "akkhaṇaŋ vuccati vijju": one who takes and shoots his arrows as fast as lightning), iii.322; iv.494 (C. explnsaviraddha -- vedhin vijju -- ālokena vijjhana<11> -- samattha p. 497). In other combn at J i.58 (akkhaṇavedhin + vālavedhin); v.129 (the 4 kinds of archers: a., vālavedhin, saddavedhin & saravedhin).

In BSk. we find akṣuṇṇavedha (a Sanskritised Pāli form, cp. Mathurā kṣuṇa = Sk. kṣaṇa) at Divy 58, 100, 442 (always with dūrevedha), where MSS. however read akṣuṇa˚; also at Lal. Vist. 178. See Divy Index, where trsln is given as "an act of throwing the spear so as to graze the mark" (Schiefner gives "Streifschuss"). -

Note. The explanations are not satisfactory. We should   expect either an etym. bearing on the meaning "hitting   the centre of the target" (i. e. its "eye") (cp. E. bull's   eye), in which case a direct relation to akkha = akkhi   eye would not seem improbable (cp. formation ikkhana)   or an etym. like "hitting without mishap", in which   case the expression would be derived directly from ak  khaṇa (see prec.) with the omission of the neg. an -- ;   akkhaṇa in the meaning of "lightning" (J ii.91 C.) is   not supported by literary evidence.