Editing Duḥkha (section)

==Etymology and meaning==
''Duḥkha'' (Sanskrit: दुःख; Pali: ''dukkha'') is a term found in the Upanishads and Buddhist texts, meaning anything that is "uneasy, uncomfortable, unpleasant, difficult, causing pain or sadness".{{Sfn|Monier-Williams|1899|p=483}}{{sfnp|Rhys Davids|Stede|1921|p=324–325}} 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".{{Sfn|Monier-Williams|1899|p=483}}{{sfnp|Rhys Davids|Stede|1921|p=324–325}} The term ''duḥkha'' does not have a one-word English translation, and embodies diverse aspects of unpleasant human experiences.{{sfnp|Harvey|2015|p=26–31}}{{sfnp|Rhys Davids|Stede|1921|p=324–325}} It is often understood as the opposite of ''[[sukha]]'', meaning lasting "happiness," "comfort" or "ease".{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 542-550}}

===Etymology===

====Axle hole====
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]],
{{Blockquote|The ancient Aryans who brought the Sanskrit language to India were a nomadic, horse- and cattle-breeding people who travelled in horse- or ox-drawn vehicles. ''Su-'' and ''dus-'' are prefixes indicating good or bad. The word ''kha'', in later Sanskrit meaning "sky," "ether," or "space," was originally the word for "hole," particularly an axle hole of one of the Aryan's vehicles. Thus ''sukha'' ... meant, originally, "having a good axle hole," while ''duḥkha'' meant "having a poor axle hole," leading to discomfort.{{sfn|Sargeant|2009|p=303}}}}

[[Joseph Goldstein (writer)|Joseph Goldstein]], American [[vipassana]] teacher and writer, explains the etymology as follows:
{{Blockquote|The word ''dukkha'' is made up of the prefix ''du-'' and the root ''kha''. ''Du-'' means "bad" or "difficult". ''Kha'' means "empty". "Empty", here, refers to several things—some specific, others more general. One of the specific meanings refers to the empty axle hole of a wheel. If the axle fits badly into the center hole, we get a very bumpy ride. This is a good analogy for our ride through [[saṃsāra]].{{sfn|Goldstein|2013|p=289}}}}

===='Standing unstable'====
However, according to [[Monier Monier-Williams]], the actual roots of the [[Pali]] term [[wikt:dukkha|''dukkha'']] appear to be [[Sanskrit]] [[wikt:दुस्-|दुस्-]] (''dus-'', "bad") + [[wikt:स्था|स्था]] (''sthā'', "to stand").{{sfn|Monier-Williams|1899|p=483, entry note:&nbsp;}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Monier-Williams|1899|p=483, entry note:&nbsp;}}: "according to grammarians properly written ''dush-kha'' and said to be from ''duḥ-'' and ''kha'' [cf. ''su-khá'']; but more probably a Prākritized form for duḥ-sthā'', q.v."}} Regular phonological changes in the development of Sanskrit into the various [[Prakrit]]s led to a shift from ''dus-sthā'' to ''duḥkha'' to ''dukkha''.

Analayo concurs, stating that ''dukkha'' as derived from ''duḥ-sthā'', "standing badly," "conveys nuances of "uneasiness" or of being "uncomfortable."{{sfnp|Analayo|2013}} Silk Road philologist [[Christopher I. Beckwith]] elaborates on this derivation.{{sfnp|Beckwith|2015|p=28}} According to Beckwith:
{{quote|...although the sense of duḥkha in Normative Buddhism is traditionally given as 'suffering', that and similar interpretations are highly unlikely for Early Buddhism. Significantly, Monier-Williams himself doubts the usual explanation of duḥkha and presents an alternative one immediately after it, namely: duḥ-stha "'standing badly,' unsteady, disquieted (lit. and fig.); uneasy", and so on. This form is also attested, and makes much better sense as the opposite of the Rig Veda sense of sukha, which Monier-Williams gives in full.{{sfnp|Beckwith|2015|p=30}}{{refn|group=note|Beckwith notes [[similarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism]], and argues that the Greek philosopher [[Pyrrho]] (c. 360 – c. 270 BC) based his new philosophy, [[Pyrrhonism]], on elements of [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Early Buddhism]], most particularly the Buddhist [[three marks of existence]]. According to Beckwith, Pyrrho translated ''dukkha'' into Greek as ''astathmēta''.{{sfnp|Beckwith|2015|p=22-23}} Becwith's views are not supported by mainstream scholarship.}}}}

===Translation===
The literal meaning of ''duḥkha'', as used in a general sense is "suffering" or "painful."{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Harvey|2013|p=30}}: ""suffering" is an appropriate translation only in a general, inexact sense [...] In the passage on the first True Reality, dukkha in "birth is dukkha" is an adjective [...] The best translation here is by the English adjective "painful," which can apply to a range of things."}} Its exact translation depends on the context.{{refn|group=note|Gombrich, ''What the Buddha Thought'', p.10: "there has been a lot of argument over how to translate the word dukkha; and again, the choice of translation must depend heavily 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,{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 542-550}} or to clarify that translation with terms such as anxiety, distress, frustration, unease, unsatisfactoriness, not having what one wants, having what one doesn't want, etc.{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle locations 524-528}}{{sfn|Prebish|1993}}{{sfn|Keown|2003}}{{refn|group=note|name=Translations (contemporary)}} In the sequence "birth is painful," ''dukhka'' may be translated as "painful."{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=30}}  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.{{CN|date=February 2023}} The term "unsatisfactoriness" then is often used to emphasize the unsatisfactoriness of "life under the influence of afflictions and polluted karma."{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1998|p=38}}{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=61}}{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|loc=Kindle location 2769}}{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 932-934}}{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2011|p=6}}{{refn|group=note|Unsatisfactory:
* Analayo (2013), ''Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization'': "Dukkha is often translated as “suffering”. Suffering, however, represents only one aspect of dukkha, a term whose range of implications is difficult to capture with a single English word [...] In order to catch the various nuances of “dukkha”, the most convenient translation is “unsatisfactoriness”, though it might be best to leave the term untranslated."
* Gombrich, ''How Buddhism Began'': "The first Noble Truth is the single word ''dukkha'', and it is explicated to mean that everything in our experience of life is ultimately unsatisfactory";
:::::* Dalai Lama, Thubten Chodron, ''Approaching the Buddhist Path'', p.279 note 2: "''Duhkha'' (P. ''dukkha'') is often translated as "suffering," but this translation is misleading. Its meaning is more nuanced and refers to all unsatisfactory states and experiences, many of which are not explicitly painful. While the Buddha says that life under the influence of afflictions and polluted karma is unsatisfactory, he does not say that life is suffering."
*  Roderick Bucknell, Martin Stuart-Fox, ''The Twilight Language'', p.161: "Thus ''dukkha'' at the most subtle level appears to refer to a normally unperceived unsatisfactory quality";
* Gombrich, ''What the Buddha Thought'', p.10: "there has been a lot of argument over how to translate the word dukkha; and again, the choice of translation must depend heavily on the context. But what is being expressed is that life as we normally experience it is unsatisfactory."}}