Niḥsaraṇa
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niḥsaraṇa (P. nissaraṇa; T. nges ’byung; C. li; J. ri; K. i 離). In Sanskrit, “escape” or “emergence,” often a synonym for liberation from rebirth.[1]
The term can also refer to the sense of dissatisfaction with samsara and the wish to escape from it.[1] This sense is indicated in the following compounds:[1]
- bhava-niḥsaraṇa, “escape from mundane existence,”
- jarā-niḥsaraṇa, “escape from old age,” and
- kleśa-niḥsaraṇa, “escape from the afflictions.”
Bhikkhu Bodhi has translated the Pali term "nissaraṇa" as "escape".[2]
The Pali term is found in the "Dhātusaṃyutta Connected Discourses on Elements". Bhikkhu Bodhi clarifies one passage that uses this term as follows:
- In this sutta the Four Noble Truths are discussed. The gratification (assāda) in the four elements is the truth of the origin; the danger (ādīnava) is the truth of suffering; the escape (nissaraṇa) is the truth of cessation; the path that understands the escape is the truth of the path.[3]
In the Tibetan tradition, the same Tibetan term nges ’byung it used to translate the following Sanskrit terms:
- niḥsaraṇa - escape, emergence, (sometimes) renunciation
- niryāṇa - definite emergence, (sometimes) renunciation
- naiṣkramya - renunciation
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. niḥsaraṇa.
- ↑ Bodhi 2000a, Pali-English dictionary.
- ↑ Bodhi 2000a, footnote 249.
Sources
Bodhi, Bhikkhu, ed. (2000a), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Wisdom Publications
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
