duḥkha

''Duḥkha'' (; Sanskrit: दुःख; Pāli: ''dukkha''), commonly translated as "suffering", "pain," or "unhappiness," is an important concept in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Its meaning depends on the context, and may refer more specifically to the "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease" of mundane life when driven by craving/ grasping and ignorance.

While the term ''dukkha'' has often been derived from the prefix ''du'' ("bad" or "difficult") and the root ''kha'', "empty," "hole," a badly fitting axle-hole of a cart or chariot giving "a very bumpy ride," it may actually be derived from ''duḥ-stha'', a "dis-/ bad- + stand-," that is, "standing badly , unsteady," "unstable."

It is the first of the Four Noble Truths and it is one of the three marks of existence. The term also appears in scriptures of Hinduism, such as the Upanishads, in discussions of moksha (spiritual liberation).

Etymology and meaning

''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". It is also a concept in Indian religions about the nature of life that innately includes the "unpleasant", "suffering", "pain", "sorrow", "distress", "grief" or "misery." The term ''duḥkha'' does not have a one-word English translation, and embodies diverse aspects of unpleasant human experiences. It is often understood as the opposite of ''sukha'', meaning "happiness," "comfort" or "ease."

Etymology

Axle hole

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 to Winthrop Sargeant,

Joseph Goldstein, American vipassana teacher and writer, explains the etymology as follows:

'Standing unstable'

However, according to Monier Monier-Williams, the actual roots of the Pali term ''dukkha'' appear to be Sanskrit दुस्- (''dus-'', "bad") + स्था (''stha'', "to stand"). Regular phonological changes in the development of Sanskrit into the various Prakrits led to a shift from ''dus-sthā'' to ''duḥkha'' to ''dukkha''.

Analayo concurs, stating that ''dukkha'' as derived from ''duh-stha'', "standing badly," "conveys nuances of "uneasiness" or of being "uncomfortable."

Silk Road philologist Christopher I. Beckwith elaborates on this derivation. According to Beckwith:

Translation

The literal meaning of ''duhkha'', as used in a general sense is "suffering" or "painful." Its exact translation depends on the context. Contemporary translators of Buddhist texts use a variety of English words to convey the aspects of ''dukh''. Early Western translators of Buddhist texts (before the 1970s) typically translated the Pali term ''dukkha'' 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, 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. In the sequence "birth is painfull," ''dukhka'' may be translated as "painfull." When related to vedana, "feeling," ''dukkha'' ("unpleasant," "painfull") is the opposite of ''sukkha'' ("pleasure," "pleasant"), yet all feelings are ''dukkha'' in that they are impermanent, conditioned phenomena, which are unsatisfactory, incapable of providing lasting satisfaction. The term "unsatisfactoriness" then is often used to emphasize the unsatisfactoriness of "life under the influence of afflictions and polluted karma."

Buddhism

''Duḥkha'' is one of the three marks of existence, namely ''anitya'' ("impermanent"), ''duḥkha'' ("unsatisfactory"), '' anatman'' (without a lasting essence).

Within the Buddhist sutras, duḥkha has a broad meaning, and is divided in three categories:
* ''Dukkha-dukkha'', aversion to physical suffering - this includes the physical and mental sufferings of birth, 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." On this level, the term indicates a lack of lasting satisfaction, or a sense that things never measure up to our expectations or standards.

Various sutras sum up how life in this "mundane world" is regarded to be ''duḥkha'', starting with '' samsara'', the ongoing process of death and rebirth itself:
# Birth 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 are duḥkha.

The Buddhist tradition emphasizes the importance of developing insight into the nature of ''duḥkha'', the conditions that cause it, and how it can be overcome. This process is formulated in the teachings on the Four Noble Truths.

_Hinduism

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