Raga (Sanskrit: à ¤°à ¤¾à ¤Â, IAST: ; Pali ; Tibetan: ) is a Buddhist and Hindu concept of character affliction or poison referring to any form of "greed, sensuality, lust, desire" or "attachment to a sensory object". Raga is represented in Buddhist artwork (Sanskrit: bhÃÂvacakra) by a bird - usually a cock. In Hinduism, it is one of the five Kleshas or poisons that afflict the soul. In Buddhism, Raga is identified in the following contexts:
literally means 'color or hue' in Sanskrit. In Buddhist texts as a form of blemish, personal impurity or fundamental character affliction. The term Raga also refers to a melodic mode in Indian music.
As a Buddhist philosophical concept, the term refers to 'greed, sensuality, desire' or 'attachment to a sensory object'. It includes any form of desire including sexual desire and sensual passion, as well as attachments to, excitement over and pleasure derived from objects of the senses. Some scholars render it as 'craving'.
Raga is one of three poisons and afflictions, also called the "threefold fires" in Buddhist Pali canon, that prevents a being from reaching nirvana. To extinguish all raga (greed, lust, desire, attachment) is one of the requirements of nirvana (liberation) in Buddhism.
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
Raga is said to arise from the identification of the self as being separate from everything else. This mis-perception or misunderstanding is referred to as avidya (ignorance).
In the Yoga Sutras II.7, rÃÂga is defined as the desire for pleasure based on remembering past experiences of pleasure. Memory triggers the wish to repeat those experiences, leading to attachment. Ego is seen as the root of this attachment, and memory is necessary for attachment to form. Even when not consciously remembered, past impressions can unconsciously draw the mind toward objects of pleasure.
The word rÃÂga also appears in a different sense in Yoga Sutra IV.17, with the prefix upa, as upa-rÃÂga, meaning "being colored". In this verse, Patanjali explains how objects become known or unknown based on their interaction with the mind (citta).