Taṇhā


' is a Pāli word, which originates from the Vedic Sanskrit word ', which means "thirst, craving, desire", from Proto-Indo-Iranian. It 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: kāma-taṇhā, bhava-taṇhā, and vibhava-taṇhā.
Taṇhā appears in the Four Noble Truths, wherein is the cause of dukkha and the cycle of repeated birth, becoming and death.

Etymology and meaning

The word Taṇhā is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word tṛ́ṣṇā, which is related to the root tarś-, ultimately descending from Proto-Indo-European *ters-. This word has the following Indo-European cognates: Avestan taršna, Ancient Greek térsomai, Gothic þaursus, Old High German durst, 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 of Hinduism, wherein the meaning of the word is "thirst, thirsting for, longing for, craving for, desiring, eager greediness, and suffering from thirst".
is an important Buddhist concept, and found in its early texts. It literally means "thirst, longing, greed", either physical or mental.

Relation to Dukkha

In the second of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha identified as a principal cause in the arising of dukkha.
The taṇhā, 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 samsara, because the origination of everything is relative and dependent on something else. The Pali canons of Buddhism assert other defilements and impurities, in addition to taṇhā, as the cause of Dukkha. Taṇhā nevertheless, is always listed first, and considered the principal, all-pervading and "the most palpable and immediate cause" of dukkha, states Rahula.
Taṇhā, 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 taṇhā that leads to rebirth and endless Samsara, 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, it ultimately traces to Taṇhā, but it also asserts that "ordinary right view" such as giving and donations to monks, is also a form of clinging. The end of Taṇhā occurs when the person has accepted the "transcendent right view" through the insight into impermanence and non-self.
Both appropriate and inappropriate tendencies, states Stephen Laumakis, are linked to the fires of Taṇhā, and these produce fruits of kamma thereby rebirths. Quenching and blowing out these fires completely, is the path to final release from dukkha and samsara, in Buddhism. The Pali texts, states David Webster, repeatedly recommend that one must destroy Taṇhā completely, and this destruction is a necessary for nirvana.
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."

Types

The Buddha identified three types of taṇhā:
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, anicca and anatta. 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. taṇhā ceases.

Tanha versus Chanda

Buddhism categorizes desires as either Tanha or Chanda. Chanda literally means "impulse, excitement, will, desire for".
Bahm states that Chanda is "desiring what, and no more than, will be attained", while Tanha is "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 Tanha.
Some writers such as Ajahn Sucitto explain Chanda as positive and non-pathological, asserting it to be distinct from negative and pathological Tanha. 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 text 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.

Relation to the three poisons

and avidya can be related to the three poisons:
According to Rupert Gethin, taṇhā is 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 taṇhā as 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 raga, dosa, and moha; in the Fire Sermon, the Buddha states that nirvana is obtained by extinguishing these fires.