(from PÃÂli; ) is an important concept in Buddhism, referring to "thirst, desire, longing, greed", either physical or mental. It is typically translated as craving, and is of three types: kÃÂma-taá¹Âhà(craving for sensual pleasures), bhava-taá¹Âhà(craving for existence), and vibhava-taá¹Âhà(craving for non-existence).
Taá¹Âhàappears in the Four Noble Truths, wherein arises with, or exists together with, dukkha (dissatisfaction, "standing unstable") and the cycle of repeated birth, becoming and death (saá¹ÂsÃÂra).
In the TheravÃÂda Abhidhamma teachings, taá¹Âhàis equivalent to the mental factor lobha (attachment).
Taá¹Âhàis a Pali word, derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word tá¹ÂÃÂá¹£á¹Âà(à ¤¤à ¥Âà ¤·à ¥Âà ¤£à ¤¾), which originates from the Proto-Indo-Iranian , which is related to the root tarà Â- (thirst, desire, wish), ultimately descending from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (dry).
The word has the following Indo-European cognates: Avestan tarà ¡na (thirst), Ancient Greek térsomai (to dry), Lithuanian troà ¡kimas (thirst, desire), Gothic þaursus (dry), Old High German durst (thirst), English thirst. The word appears numerous times in the Samhita layer of the Rigveda, dated to the 2nd millennium BCE, such as in hymns 1.7.11, 1.16.5, 3.9.3, 6.15.5, 7.3.4 and 10.91.7. It also appears in other Vedas, wherein the meaning of the word is "thirst, thirsting for, longing for, craving for, desiring, eager greediness, and suffering from thirst".
In the second of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha identified as arising together with dukkha (unease, "standing unstable").
Taá¹ÂhÃÂ, states Walpola Rahula, or "thirst, desire, greed, craving" is what manifests as suffering and rebirths. However, adds Rahula, it is not the first cause nor the only cause of dukkha or saá¹ÂsÃÂra, because the origination of everything is relative and dependent on something else. The Pali canons of Buddhism assert other defilements and impurities (kilesÃÂ, sÃÂsavàdhammÃÂ), in addition to taá¹ÂhÃÂ, as the cause of Dukkha. Taá¹Âhànevertheless, is always listed first, and considered the principal, all-pervading and "the most palpable and immediate cause" of dukkha, states Rahula.
Taá¹ÂhÃÂ, states Peter Harvey, is the key origin of dukkha in Buddhism. It reflects a mental state of craving. Greater the craving, more is the frustration because the world is always changing and innately unsatisfactory; craving also brings about pain through conflict and quarrels between individuals, which are all a state of dukkha. It is such taá¹Âhàthat leads to rebirth and endless saá¹ÂsÃÂra, stated Buddha as the second reality, and it is marked by three types of craving: sensory, being or non-existence. In Buddhist philosophy, there are right view and wrong view. The wrong views ultimately trace back to taá¹ÂhÃÂ, but it also asserts that "ordinary right view" such as giving and donations to monks, is also a form of clinging. The end of taá¹Âhàoccurs when a person has accepted the "transcendent right view" through insight into impermanence and non-self.
Both appropriate and inappropriate tendencies, states Stephen Laumakis, are linked to the fires of taá¹ÂhÃÂ, and these produce fruits of kamma thereby rebirths. Quenching and blowing out these fires completely, is the path to final release from dukkha and saá¹ÂsÃÂra, in Buddhism. The Pali texts, states David Webster, repeatedly recommend that one must destroy taá¹Âhàcompletely, and this destruction is necessary for nirvÃÂá¹Âa.
is also identified as the eighth link in the twelve links of dependent origination. In the context of the twelve links, the emphasis is on the types of craving "that nourish the karmic potency that will produce the next lifetime."
The Buddha identified three types of taá¹ÂhÃÂ:
The third noble truth teaches that the cessation of ' is possible. The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta states:
Cessation of can be obtained by following the Noble Eightfold Path. In Theravada Buddhism, the cessation results from the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self. The 'insight meditation' practice of Buddhism, states Kevin Trainor, focuses on gaining "right mindfulness" which entails understanding three marks of existence - dukkha (suffering), anicca (impermanence) and anatta (non-self). The understanding of the reality of non-self, adds Trainor, promotes non-attachment because "if there is no soul, then there is no locus for clinging". Once one comprehends and accepts the non-self doctrine, there are no more desires, i.e. taá¹Âhàceases.
Buddhism categorizes desires as either taá¹Âhàor chanda. Chanda literally means "impulse, excitement, will, desire for".
Bahm states that chanda is "desiring what, and no more than, will be attained", while taá¹Âhàis "desiring more than will be attained". However, in early Buddhist texts, adds Bahm, the term chanda includes anxieties and is ambiguous, wherein five kinds of chanda are described, namely "to seek, to gain, to hoard, to spend and to enjoy". In these early texts, the sense of the word chanda is the same as taá¹ÂhÃÂ.
Some writers such as Ajahn Sucitto explain chanda as positive and non-pathological, asserting it to be distinct from negative and pathological taá¹ÂhÃÂ. Sucitto explains it with examples such as the desire to apply oneself to a positive action such as meditation. In contrast, Rhys Davids and Stede state that chanda, in Buddhist texts, has both positive and negative connotations; as a vice, for example, the Pali texts associate chanda with "lust, delight in the body" stating it to be a source of misery.
Chanda, states Peter Harvey, can be either wholesome or unwholesome.
(desire) can be related to the three poisons:
According to Rupert Gethin, taá¹Âhàis related to aversion and ignorance. Craving leads to aversion, anger, cruelty and violence, states Gethin, which are unpleasant states and cause suffering to one who craves. Craving is based on misjudgement, states Gethin, that the world is permanent, unchanging, stable, and reliable.
For example, in the first discourse of the Buddha, the Buddha identified taá¹Âhàas the principal cause of suffering. However, his third discourse, the Fire Sermon, and other suttas, the Buddha identifies the causes of suffering as the "fires" of rÃÂga, dosa (dveá¹£a), and moha; in the Fire Sermon, the Buddha states that nirvÃÂá¹Âa is obtained by extinguishing these fires.