Duḥkha (; , ) "suffering", "pain", "unease", or "unsatisfactoriness", is an important concept in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Its meaning is context-dependent: it may refer more specifically to the "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease" of craving for and grasping after transient 'things' (i.e. sensory objects, including thoughts), or expecting pleasure from them while ignorant of this transientness. In Buddhism, dukkha is part of the first of the Four Noble Truths and 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).
While the term dukkha has often been derived from the prefix du- ("bad" or "difficult") and the root kha ("empty", "hole"), meaning 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".
Duḥkha (Sanskrit: à ¤¦à ¥Âà ¤Âà ¤Â; 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 transient phenomena which are innately "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 lasting "happiness", "comfort" or "ease".
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:
However, according to Monier Monier-Williams, the actual roots of the Pali term appear to be Sanskrit (dus-, "bad") + (sthÃÂ, "to stand"). Irregular phonological changes in the development of Sanskrit into the various Prakrits led to a shift from dus-sthàto duḥkha to dukkha.
Analayo concurs, stating that dukkha as derived from duḥ-sthÃÂ, "standing badly", "conveys nuances of "uneasiness" or of being "uncomfortable". Silk Road philologist Christopher I. Beckwith elaborates on this derivation. According to Beckwith:
The literal meaning of duḥkha, 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 does not want, etc. In the sequence "birth is painful", dukhka may be translated as "painful". When related to vedana, "feeling", dukkha ("unpleasant", "painful") 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".
Dukkha is one of the three marks of existence, namely anicca ("impermanent"), dukkha ("unsatisfactory"), anatta (without a lasting essence).
Various suttas sum up how cognitive processes result in an aversion to unpleasant things and experiences (dukkha), forming a corrupted process together with the complementary process of clinging to and craving for pleasure (sukha). This is expressed as saá¹ÂsÃÂra, an ongoing process of death and rebirth, but also more pointly and non-metaphysically in the process-formula of the five skandhas:
Early emphasis is on the importance of developing insight into the nature of dukkha, 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 jhanas. This is summarized in the teachings on the Four Noble Truths and other formulaic expressions of the Buddhist way to awakening.
Within the Buddhist suttas, dukkha has a broad meaning, and has also been specified in three categories:
Chinese Buddhist tradition has been influenced by Taoism and Confucian theory that advocates that duhkha (å¤:Ã¥ÂÂTen directions, å£ hole or opening) is associated to the theory of seven emotions of endogenous disease through the formation of the spirit of the po a term that relates to the Western psychological notion of ego or the theological reference to the human soul. 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.
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.
In Hindu scriptures, the earliest Upaniads â the and the â in all likelihood predate the advent of Buddhism. In these scriptures of Hinduism, the Sanskrit word (à ¤¦à ¥Âà ¤Âà ¤Â) appears in the sense of "suffering, sorrow, distress", and in the context of a spiritual pursuit and liberation through the knowledge of Atman ('essence').
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. The term Duhkha also appears in many other middle and later post-Buddhist Upanishads such as the verse 6.20 of Shvetashvatara Upanishad, as well as in the Bhagavad Gita, all in the contexts of moksha and bhakti.
The term also appears in the foundational Sutras of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, such as the opening lines of Samkhya karika of the Samkhya school. The Samkhya school identifies three types of suffering. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali state that "for one who has discrimination, everything is suffering" (duḥkham eva sarvaṠvivekinaḥ).
Some of the Hindu scripture verses referring to duhkha are:
Duḥkha is explained in the Tattvartha Sutra, an authoritative Jain scripture from the 2nd century.