Duḥkha (/ˈduːkə/;Sanskrit:दुःख,Pali:dukkha) "suffering", "pain", "unease", or "unsatisfactoriness", is an important concept inBuddhism,Jainism andHinduism. Its meaning depends on the context, and may refer more specifically to the "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease" of craving for and grasping after transient 'things' (sense objects, including thoughts), expecting pleasure from them while ignorant of this transientness.[1][2][3][4][note 1] In Buddhism, dukkha is part of the first of theFour Noble Truths and one of thethree marks of existence. The term also appears in scriptures ofHinduism, such as theUpanishads, in discussions ofmoksha (spiritual liberation).[5][6]
While the termdukkha has often been derived from the prefixdu- ("bad" or "difficult") and the rootkha ("empty," "hole"), meaning a badly fitting axle-hole of a cart or chariot giving "a very bumpy ride,"[7][8] it may actually be derived fromduḥ-stha, a "dis-/ bad- + stand-", that is, "standing badly, unsteady," "unstable."[9][10][11][12]
Duḥkha (Sanskrit: दुःख; Pali:dukkha) is a term found in the Upanishads and Buddhist texts, meaning anything that is "uneasy, uncomfortable, unpleasant, difficult, causing pain or sadness".[13][14] It is also a concept in Indian religions about the nature of transient phenomena which are innately "unpleasant", "suffering", "pain", "sorrow", "distress", "grief" or "misery".[13][14] The termduḥkha does not have a one-word English translation, and embodies diverse aspects of unpleasant human experiences.[2][14] It is often understood as the opposite ofsukha, meaning lasting "happiness," "comfort" or "ease".[15]
The word has been explained in recent times as a derivation from Aryan terminology for an axle hole, referring to an axle hole which is not in the center and leads to a bumpy, uncomfortable ride. According toWinthrop Sargeant,
The ancient Aryans who brought the Sanskrit language to India were a nomadic, horse- and cattle-breeding people who travelled in horse- or ox-drawn vehicles.Su- anddus- are prefixes indicating good or bad. The wordkha, in later Sanskrit meaning "sky," "ether," or "space," was originally the word for "hole," particularly an axle hole of one of the Aryan's vehicles. Thussukha ... meant, originally, "having a good axle hole," whileduḥkha meant "having a poor axle hole," leading to discomfort.[7]
The worddukkha is made up of the prefixdu- and the rootkha.Du- means "bad" or "difficult".Kha means "empty". "Empty", here, refers to several things—some specific, others more general. One of the specific meanings refers to the empty axle hole of a wheel. If the axle fits badly into the center hole, we get a very bumpy ride. This is a good analogy for our ride throughsaṃsāra.[8]
However, according toMonier Monier-Williams, the actual roots of thePali termdukkha appear to beSanskritदुस्- (dus-, "bad") +स्था (sthā, "to stand").[9][note 2] Regular phonological changes in the development of Sanskrit into the variousPrakrits led to a shift fromdus-sthā toduḥkha todukkha.
Analayo concurs, stating thatdukkha as derived fromduḥ-sthā, "standing badly," "conveys nuances of "uneasiness" or of being "uncomfortable."[16] Silk Road philologistChristopher I. Beckwith elaborates on this derivation.[17] According to Beckwith:
...although the sense of duḥkha in Normative Buddhism is traditionally given as 'suffering', that and similar interpretations are highly unlikely for Early Buddhism. Significantly, Monier-Williams himself doubts the usual explanation of duḥkha and presents an alternative one immediately after it, namely: duḥ-stha "'standing badly,' unsteady, disquieted (lit. and fig.); uneasy", and so on. This form is also attested, and makes much better sense as the opposite of the Rig Veda sense of sukha, which Monier-Williams gives in full.[11][note 3]
The literal meaning ofduḥkha, as used in a general sense is "suffering" or "painful."[note 4] Its exact translation depends on the context.[note 5] Contemporary translators of Buddhist texts use a variety of English words to convey the aspects ofdukh. Early Western translators of Buddhist texts (before the 1970s) typically translated the Pali termdukkha as "suffering." Later translators have emphasized that "suffering" is a too limited translation for the term duḥkha, and have preferred to either leave the term untranslated,[15] or to clarify that translation with terms such as anxiety, distress, frustration, unease, unsatisfactoriness, not having what one wants, having what one doesn't want, etc.[19][20][21][note 6] In the sequence "birth is painful,"dukhka may be translated as "painful."[22] When related tovedana, "feeling,"dukkha ("unpleasant," "painful") is the opposite ofsukkha ("pleasure," "pleasant"), yet all feelings aredukkha in that they are impermanent, conditioned phenomena, which are unsatisfactory, incapable of providing lasting satisfaction.[citation needed] The term "unsatisfactoriness" then is often used to emphasize the unsatisfactoriness of "life under the influence of afflictions and polluted karma."[23][24][25][26][27][note 7]
Various sutras sum up how cognitive processes result in an aversion to unpleasant things and experiences (duḥkha), forming a corrupted process together with the complementary process of clinging to and craving for pleasure (suhkha). This is expressed assaṃsāra, an ongoing process of death and rebirth,[note 9] but also more pointly and non-metaphysically in the process-formula of the five skandhas:
Birth is duḥkha, maturation is duḥkha,aging is duḥkha,illness is duḥkha,death is duḥkha;
Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are duḥkha;
Association with the unbeloved is duḥkha; separation from the loved is duḥkha;
Not getting what is wanted is duḥkha.
In conclusion, the five clinging-aggregates (skandhas) are duḥkha.
Early emphasis is on the importance of developing insight into the nature ofduḥkha, the corrupted process of clinging and craving which starts with sense-contact, as described in the skandhas, and how this corruption can be overcome, namely by training the mind culminating in the process of the dhyanas. This is summarized in the teachings on theFour Noble Truths and other formulaic expressions of theBuddhist way toawakening.
Within the Buddhist sutras, duḥkha has a broad meaning, and has also been specified in three categories:[29]
Dukkha-dukkha, aversion to physical suffering – this includes the physical and mental sufferings ofbirth,aging,illness,dying; distress due to what is not desirable.
Viparinama-dukkha, the frustration of disappearing happiness – this is the duḥkha of pleasant or happy experiences changing to unpleasant when the causes and conditions that produced the pleasant experiences cease.
Sankhara-dukkha, the unsatisfactoriness of changing and impermanent "things" – the incapability of conditioned things to give us lasting happiness. This includes "a basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all existence, all forms of life, because all forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance."[30] On this level, the term indicates a lack of lasting satisfaction, or a sense that things never measure up to our expectations or standards.
Chinese Buddhist tradition has been influenced by Taoism and Confucian theory that advocates that duhkha (古:十Ten directions, 口 hole or opening) is associated to the theory of seven emotions of endogenous disease through the formation of the spirit of thepo a term that relates to the Western psychological notion ofego or thetheological reference to the humansoul. This theory is expounded in the application of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment and prevention of pain and suffering from illness, disease and ignorance.[31][32]
Awakening, that is, awakening to one's true mind of emptiness and compassion, does not necessarily end physical suffering. In the Buddhist tradition, suffering after awakening is often explained as the working-out or untangling of karma of one's previous present life.
In Hinduism,duḥkha encompasses many meanings such as the phenomenological senses of pain and grief, a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the limitations of worldly existence, and the devastation of impermanence.[33]
InHindu scriptures, the earliestUpaniṣads — theBṛhadāraṇyaka and theChāndogya — in all likelihood predate the advent of Buddhism.[note 10] In these scriptures of Hinduism, the Sanskrit wordduḥkha (दुःख) appears in the sense of "suffering, sorrow, distress", and in the context of a spiritual pursuit and liberation through the knowledge ofAtman ('essence').[5][6][34]
The concept of sorrow and suffering, and self-knowledge as a means to overcome it, appears extensively with other terms in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads.[35] The termDuhkha also appears in many other middle and later post-Buddhist Upanishads such as the verse 6.20 ofShvetashvatara Upanishad,[36] as well as in theBhagavad Gita, all in the contexts ofmoksha andbhakti.[37][note 11]
The term also appears in the foundational Sutras of the six schools ofHindu philosophy, such as the opening lines ofSamkhya karika of theSamkhya school.[39][40] The Samkhya school identifies three types of suffering.[41] TheYoga Sutras of Patanjali state that "for one who has discrimination, everything is suffering" (duḥkham eva sarvaṁ vivekinaḥ).[42]
Some of the Hindu scripture verses referring toduhkha are:
Hindu Scripture
Sanskrit
English
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (Verse 4.4.14)
ihaiva santo 'tha vidmas tad vayaṃ na ced avedir mahatī vinaṣṭiḥ ye tad vidur amṛtās te bhavanty athetareduḥkham evāpiyanti[43]
While we are still here, we have come to know it [ātman]. If you've not known it, great is your destruction.
Those who have known it – they become immortal. As for the rest – only suffering awaits them.[5]
Chāndogya Upaniṣad (Verse 7.26.2)
na paśyo mṛtyuṃ paśyati na rogaṃ notaduḥkhatām sarvaṃ ha paśyaḥ paśyati sarvam āpnoti sarvaśaḥ[44]
When a man rightly sees, he sees no death, no sickness or distress.[note 12]
When a man rightly sees, he sees all, he wins all, completely.[46][note 13]
Bhagavad Gita (Verse 2.56)
duḥkheṣhv-anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣhu vigata-spṛihaḥ
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir uchyate
One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.[47]
Bhagavad Gita (Verse 8.15)
mām upetya punar janmaduḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
Reaching me, these great souls never again experience birth in this temporal abode of misery, for they have attained the ultimate perfection.[48]
Duḥkha is explained in theTattvartha Sutra, an authoritative Jain scripture from the 2nd century.[49]
Sanskrit
English
samyagdarśanaśuddhaṃ yo jñānaṃ viratim eva cāpnoti duḥkhanimittam apīdaṃ tena sulabdhaṃ bhavati janma
[For] him who obtains knowledge, which is pure through right worldview, and indeed non-passion, for him there is good birth,even though this is the cause of pain.[50]
^Translations ofduhkha: *Nyanatiloka Thera 2004, p. 61: dukkha (1) 'pain', painful feeling, which may be bodily and mental [...] 2. 'Suffering', 'ill'. *Huxter 2016, p. 10: "dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or suffering) (....) In the Introduction I wrote that dukkha is probably best understood as unsatisfactoriness." :[3] "(...) the three characteristics of samsara/sankhara (the realm of rebirth): anicca (impermance), dukkha (pain) and anatta (no-self)." See also theAnuradha Sutta: To Anuradha
^Monier-Williams 1899, p. 483, entry note: : "according to grammarians properly writtendush-kha and said to be fromduḥ- andkha [cf.su-khá]; but more probably a Prākritized form for duḥ-sthā, q.v."
^Harvey (2013, p. 30): ""suffering" is an appropriate translation only in a general, inexact sense [...] In the passage on the first True Reality, dukkha in "birth is dukkha" is an adjective [...] The best translation here is by the English adjective "painful," which can apply to a range of things."
^Gombrich,What the Buddha Thought, p.10: "there has been a lot of argument over how to translate the word dukkha; and again, the choice of translation must depend heavily on the context.
^Contemporary translators have used a variety of English words to translate the termduḥkha; translators commonly use different words to translate aspects of the term. For example,duḥkha has been translated as follows in many contexts:
Analayo (2013),Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization: "Dukkha is often translated as “suffering”. Suffering, however, represents only one aspect of dukkha, a term whose range of implications is difficult to capture with a single English word [...] In order to catch the various nuances of “dukkha”, the most convenient translation is “unsatisfactoriness”, though it might be best to leave the term untranslated."
Gombrich,How Buddhism Began: "The first Noble Truth is the single worddukkha, and it is explicated to mean that everything in our experience of life is ultimately unsatisfactory";
Dalai Lama, Thubten Chodron,Approaching the Buddhist Path, p.279 note 2: "Duhkha (P.dukkha) is often translated as "suffering," but this translation is misleading. Its meaning is more nuanced and refers to all unsatisfactory states and experiences, many of which are not explicitly painful. While the Buddha says that life under the influence of afflictions and polluted karma is unsatisfactory, he does not say that life is suffering."
Roderick Bucknell, Martin Stuart-Fox,The Twilight Language, p.161: "Thusdukkha at the most subtle level appears to refer to a normally unperceived unsatisfactory quality";
Gombrich,What the Buddha Thought, p.10: "there has been a lot of argument over how to translate the word dukkha; and again, the choice of translation must depend heavily on the context. But what is being expressed is that life as we normally experience it is unsatisfactory."
^Beckwith: "The Buddha says Alldharmas [=pragmata] are anitya "impermanent" dukkha "unsatisfactory, imperfect, unstable" anatman "without an innate self-identity"[12]
^Paul Williams: "All rebirth is due to karma and is impermanent. Short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma. The endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath, is samsara."[28]
^See, e.g.,Patrick Olivelle (1996),Upaniṣads (Oxford: Oxford University Press),ISBN978-0-19-283576-5, p. xxxvi: "The scholarly consensus, well-founded I think, is that theBṛhadāraṇyaka and theChāndogya are the two earliestUpaniṣads.... The two texts as we have them are, in all likelihood, pre-Buddhist; placing them in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE may be reasonable, give or take a century or so."
^Soothill, William Edward; Hodous, Lewis (2006).A dictionary of Chinese Buddhist terms: with Sanskrit and English equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali index (Repr. - Transferred to digital printing ed.). London New York, NY: Routledge.ISBN978-0-7007-1455-1.
^Original Sanskrit:Samkhya karika Compiled and indexed by Ferenc Ruzsa (2015), Sanskrit Documents Archives; Second Translation (Verse 1): Ferenc Ruzsa (1997), The triple suffering - A note on the Samkhya karika, Xth World Sanskrit Conference: Bangalore, University of Hungary, Budapest; Third Translation (all Verses):Samkhyakarika of Iswara Krishna John Davis (Translator), Trubner, London, University of Toronto Archives
^Samkhya karika by Iswara Krishna, Henry Colebrooke (Translator), Oxford University Press
^Boer, L. den.Early Jaina Epistemology: a Study of the Philosophical Chapters of the Tattvārthādhigama; With an English Translation of the Tattvārthādhigamabhāṣya I, II.8 25, and V. 2020.
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