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is
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
and
Pāli for "old age" ()
[ and "death" ().][; Quote: "death, as ending this (visible) existence, physical death".] In Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, jaramarana is associated with the inevitable decay and death-related suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth within ''saṃsāra'' (cyclic existence).
''Jarā'' and ''maraṇa'' are identified as the twelfth link within the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination.
Etymology
The word ''jarā'' is related to the older Vedic Sanskrit word ''jarā, jaras, jarati, gerā'', which means "to become brittle, to decay, to be consumed". The Vedic root is related to the Latin ''granum'', Goth. ''kaurn'', Greek ''geras, geros'' (later geriatric) all of which in one context mean "hardening, old age".[; Quote: "old age, decay (in a disparaging sense), decrepitude, wretched, miserable"]
The word ''maraṇa'' is based on the Vedic Sanskrit root ''mṛ'', ''mriyate'' which means death. The Vedic root is related to later Sanskrit ''marta'', as well as to German ''mord'', Lith. ''mirti'', Latin ''morior'' and ''mors'' all of which mean "to die, death".
Within the Four Noble Truths
Within the teachings on the Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". , ''jarā'' and ''maraṇa'' are identified as aspects of '' Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...
, ''jarā'' and ''maraṇa'' are identified as aspects of ''dukkha'' (suffering, anxiety, unsatisfactoriness). For example, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta">''The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth'' states:
:"Now this, bhikkhus, for the spiritually ennobled ones, is the true reality which is pain: birth is painful, aging is painful, illness is painful, death is painful; sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, unhappiness and distress are painful; union with what is disliked is painful; separation from what is liked is painful; not to get what one wants is painful; in brief, the five bundles of grasping-fuel are painful." – ''
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'', Samyutta Nikaya, Translated by Peter Harvey
Elsewhere in the
canon the Buddha further elaborates on ''Jarāmaraṇa'' (aging and death):
:"And what is aging? Whatever aging, decrepitude, brokenness, graying, wrinkling, decline of life-force, weakening of the faculties of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called aging.
:"And what is death? Whatever deceasing, passing away, breaking up, disappearance, dying, death, completion of time, break up of the aggregates, casting off of the body, interruption in the life faculty of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called death."
Within the twelve links of dependent origination
Jarāmaraa is the last of the
Twelve Nidānas
Twelve or 12 may refer to:
* 12 (number)
* December, the twelfth and final month of the year
Years
* 12 BC
* AD 12
* 1912
* 2012
Film
* ''Twelve'' (2010 film), based on the 2002 novel
* ''12'' (2007 film), by Russian director and actor Nikit ...
, directly conditioned by birth (''
jāti''), meaning that all who are born are destined to age and die.
Texts
In the Buddhist
Pali Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
's "Subjects for Contemplation Discourse" (''
Upajjhatthana Sutta
The Upajjhatthana Sutta ("Subjects for Contemplation"), also known as the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta in the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, is a Buddhist discourse (Pali: ''sutta''; Skt.: '' sutra'') famous for its inclusion of ...
'',
AN 5.57), the Buddha enjoins followers to reflect often on the following:
:I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging....
:I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness....
:I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death....
In the
Pali Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
, aging and death affect all beings, including
gods, humans, animals and those born in a
hell realm. Only beings who achieve enlightenment (''
bodhi
The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect ...
'') in this lifetime escape
rebirth in this cycle of birth-and-death (''
sasāra'').
As what the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
instructed
King Pasenadi
Pasenadi ( pi, पसेनदि ; sa, प्रसेनजित् ; c. 6th century BCE) was an ruler of Kosala. Sāvatthī was his capital. He succeeded after . He was a prominent (lay follower) of Gautama Buddha, and built many Budd ...
of
Kosala
The Kingdom of Kosala (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indian kingdom with a rich culture, corresponding to the area within the region of Awadh in present-day Uttar Pradesh to Western Odisha. It emerged as a janapada, small state during the late Ve ...
about aging and death in the ''Pabbatopama Sutta (
SN 3.25)'':
:Like massive boulders,
:mountains pressing against the sky,
:moving in from all sides,
:crushing the four directions,
:so aging and death
:come rolling over living beings:
:noble warriors, brahmins, merchants,
:workers, outcastes, & scavengers.
:They spare nothing.
:They trample everything.
:So a wise person seeing his own good,
:steadfast, secures confidence
:in the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha.
:One who practices the Dhamma in thought, word, & deed,
:receives praise here on earth and after death rejoices in heaven.
The
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada (Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka ...
has one chapter known as "Jaravagga", that consisted of eleven verses about old age, (from verse 146 to 156).
Dhp DHP may refer to:
* Damascus–Hama and Extensions (''Damas-Hamah et Prolongements''), a former Lebanese railway line
**Sika Club Beirut, also known as D.H.P., a former association football club in Lebanon
*''Dark Horse Presents'', a former antholo ...
146-156 (trans.
Buddharakkhita, 1996).
/ref>
See also
* Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
* '' Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta''
* ''Upajjhatthana Sutta
The Upajjhatthana Sutta ("Subjects for Contemplation"), also known as the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta in the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, is a Buddhist discourse (Pali: ''sutta''; Skt.: '' sutra'') famous for its inclusion of ...
''
* Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones".
* Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...
*