"Su"' is a prefix meaning good and "gata" is the past passive participle of "to go".[4]
Among other meanings, Buddhaghosa says the Buddha is sugata because both the way he took (gata) is good (su) and where he has gone (gata) is good (su).[5] The Mahayana author Haribhadra also says the Buddha is sugata because he is one from whom all faults are totally (suṣṭhu) gone (gata), or into whom all good qualities have gone (gata) with none remaining (suparipūrṇa).[5]
It is customary to relate three denotations of sugata with three stages through which a buddha must pass in order to reach the goal of enlightenment: he has gone well beyond rebirth in saṃsāra, he has gone well into nirvāṇa, and he has gone well into the state of perfect buddhahood (samyaksaṃbuddha).[2]
According to Bhikkhu Khantipalo, the term "sugato" can be translated as "auspicious", "fortunate" or more literally "well gone", "one who has gone to goodness", "one whose going was good". This refers to both the fact that his nirvana was good and that his awakening was a good for the world.[6]
Teeuw and Robson mention "5 saugata" in their translation of Kuñjarakarṇa Dharmakathana[7] or Kakawin Kuñjarakarṇa, an Old Javanesekakawin from 15th century written by Mpu Ḍusun. Lokesh Chandra notes that in the Buddhist system this expression would be incorrect; as the pentad isn't termed pañcasugata ("Five Sugatas") but pañcabuddha[8] ("Five Buddhas"), and refers to the Five Tathāgatas :
Some Vaishnavite schools argue that Sugata Buddha, the incarnation of Vishnu, was born around 1800 BC[9] in Bodhi-Gaya (Kikata) to Ajana, and was a different person from Gautama Buddha.[10][11]
Sugata ("pleasing gait") is a Prakrit name based on the beauty of the human body, mentioned as an example in the Aṅgavijjā chapter 26. This chapter includes general rules to follow when deriving proper names.[13]
The Aṅgavijjā (mentioning sugata) is an ancient treatise from the 3rd century CE dealing with physiognomic readings, bodily gestures and predictions and was written by a Jain ascetic in 9000 Prakrit stanzas.
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