Hi @ernst,
Lajjita is translated into english as 'ashamed'. Do you find this to be the most accurate word in english for Lajjita? Any other translations could be possible for 'lajjita'?
It's the translation that can be found at learnsanskrit.cc.
I couldn't find anything in Monier-Williams.
In Practice I find that shame works very well, you can also see it as humiliation in practice where a person will try to avoid humiliation and even in order to do so they may raise themselves by humiliating another. but to shame someone and humiliate are similiar, but shame captures it better I think. and yes, you will find these people exhibiting modesty, but that is due to being held back. eventually they have to confront that and part of that confrontation is often getting some kind of power and seeing what they will do with it. If they pass that test, they can transcend to a true humility.
Francesca was right that the specific word "lajjita" isn't in Monier-Williams. It is in Apte, cited as the past passive participle of the root "lajj", which is in MW.
You can easily check out the meanings for yourself:
this link will take you to the Apte dictionary online. in the "citation" box, type "lajjita". also look at "lajj", which is the root form.
here is Monier-Williams. only "lajj" will give a result
Like others have pointed out, "Lajja" is commonly used in Hindi, which is derived from Sanskrit. Lajja typically refers to the "feeling of shame". Lajjit is the adjective form. (written Lajjita in English). The pronunciation of Sanskrit and Hindi cannot be easily mapped on to English which has only 26 characters.
"Ityadi" is a Sanskrit term for this and so-forth, etcetra. If I have to make an educated guess, the correct version would be "Lajja ityadi avastha", meaning "shame" - and so on avasthas.
Ityadi can be broken down further to "iti" + "aadi", but that'd be diving really deep into the woods 🙂