( Pāli; Devanāgarī: तण्हा) or ( Sanskrit; Devanāgarī: तृष्णा) literally means "thirst," [Monier Williams, 1964, p. 454, entry for "," retrieved 2008-06-12 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0454-tRpAya.pdf.][Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 294, entry for "Tahā," retrieved 2008-06-12 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:1936.pali.] figuratively denotes "desire" or "craving," and is traditionally juxtaposed with "peace of mind" ( upekkha). Synonyms: The most basic of these meanings (the literal meaning) is "thirst"; however, in Buddhism it has a technical meaning that is much broader. In part due to the variety of possible translations, is sometimes used as an untranslated technical term by authors writing about Buddhism. In the framework of the Four Noble Truths, the second truth ( sacca) identifies as the origin ( samudaya) of suffering ( dukkha). This is elaborated upon more fully in the Twelve Nidanas of Dependent Origination (Skt.: pratītyasamutpāda; Pali: ) in which is the eighth link (see diagram to the right).MeaningIn the Pali Canon, several discourses explicitly refer to three types of craving:
* craving for "sensuality" or "sensual pleasures" ( kāma-tahā) * craving for "becoming" or "existence" (bhava-tahā) * craving for "no becoming" or "non-existence" or "extermination" (vibhava-tahā)
Buddhist teachings describe the craving for sense objects which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures. is a term for wishing to have or wishing to obtain. It also encompasses the negative as in wishing not to have. We can crave for pleasant feelings to be present, and for unpleasant feelings not to be present (i.e., to get rid of unpleasant feelings).
The origin of (craving, desire, wish, thirst), extends beyond the desire for material objects or sense pleasures. It also includes the desire for life (or death, in the case of someone wishing to commit suicide), the desire for fame (or infamy, its opposite), the desire for sleep, the desire for mental or emotional states (e.g., happiness, joy, rapture, love) if they are not present and one would like them to be. If we experience, say depression or sorrow, we can desire its opposite. The origin of is far-reaching and covers all craving, irrespective of its intensity.
is sometimes taken as interchangeable with the term "addiction," except that that would be too narrow a view. tends to include a far broader range of human experience and feeling than medical discussions of addiction tend to include. Drawbacks and escapeAccording to Buddhist teachings, craving, or desire, springs from the notion that if one's desires are fulfilled it will, of itself, lead to one's lasting happiness or well-being. Such beliefs normally result in further craving/desire and the repeated enactment of activities to bring about the desired results. This is graphically depicted in the Bhavacakra, the repeated cycling through states driven by craving and its concomitant clinging (upadana). Further analysis of reveals that desire for conditioned things cannot be fully satiated or satisfied, due to their impermanent nature. This is expounded in the Buddhist teaching of impermanence, change (Skt.: anitya; Pali: anicca).
Moreover, one's leads not only to one's own suffering (dukkha) but also to "evil, unwholesome factors" (pāpakā akusalā dhammā) that lead to the suffering of others. The Pali Canon delineates this chain of events as follows: from one's arises attachment, then possessiveness and then defensiveness from which can arise lies, arguments and conflicts.
The Buddhist solution to the problem of (craving, wishing) is the third of the four noble truths, the cessation (nirodha) of suffering. The cessation of suffering comes from the quenching (nibbuta) of , which is the destruction of . The problem is that we desire unsatisfactory (dukkha) things, namely sensual pleasures, existence and non-existence. When we have Right Effort, when we want that which yields satisfaction, then is not the obstacle to enlightenment but drama elimination.
Relatedly, in the Pali Canon, tahā is at times personified as one of Death's three daughters (Māra-dhītā), along with aversion (arati) and passion (rāga). Thus, for instance, in the Samyutta Nikaya's Māra-sayutta, the Buddha's victory over Death is symbolically complete after Death's three daughters fail to entice the Buddha:
They had come to him glittering with beauty — Tahā, Arati, and Rāga — But the Teacher swept them away right there As the wind, a fallen cotton tuft.
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