The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

Duka (nt.) [see dvi B ii] a dyad DhsA 36, 343, 347, 406; Vism 11 sq. & in titles of books "in pairs, on
pairs," e. g. Dukapa&&h!na; or chapters, e. g. J ii.1 (˚nip!ta).
Duk(la
Duk(la [Sk. duk(la] a certain (jute?) plant; (nt.) [cp. Sk. duk(la' woven silk] very fine cloth, made of the
fibre of the d. plant S iii.145; A iv.393; J ii.21; iv.219; v.400; vi.72; Vism 257, 262; VvA 165; DA i.140;
D!vs v. 27.
Dukkha
Dukkha (adj. -- n.) [Sk. du1kha fr. du1 -- ka, an adj. forma- tion fr. prefix du1 (see du). According to others
an analogy formation after sukha, q. v.; Bdhgh (at Vism 494) expls dukkha as du+kha, where du=du1 and
kha=!k!sa. See also def. at Vism 461.] A. (adj.) unpleasant, painful, causing misery (opp. sukha pleasant)
Vin i.34; Dh 117. Lit. of vedan! (sensation) M i.59 (˚' vedana' vediyam!na, see also below iii.1 e); A
ii.116=M. i.10 (sar"rik!hi vedan!hi dukkh!hi). Fig. (fraught with pain, entailing sorrow or trouble) of
k!m! D i.36 (=pa&ip")an -- a&&hena DA i.121); Dh 186 (=bahudukkha DhA iii.240); of j!ti M i.185 (cp.
ariyasacca, below B I.); in combn dukkh! pa&ipad! dandh!bhiññ! D iii.106; Dhs 176; Nett 7, 112 sq., cp. A
ii.149 sq. ekanta˚ very painful, giving much pain S ii.173; iii.69. dukkha' (adv.) with difficulty, hardly J
i.215. B. (nt.; but pl. also dukkh!, e. g. S i.23; Sn 728; Dh 202, 203, 221. Spelling dukha (after sukha) at Dh
83, 203). There is no word in English covering the same ground as Dukkha does in Pali. Our modern words
are too specialised, too limited, and usually too strong. Sukha & dukkha are ease and dis-ease (but we use
disease in another sense); or wealth and ilth from well & ill (but we have now lost ilth); or wellbeing and
ill-ness (but illness means something else in English). We are forced, therefore, in translation to use half
synonyms, no one of which is exact. Dukkha is equally mental & physical. Pain is too predominantly
physical, sorrow too exclusively mental, but in some connections they have to be used in default of any
more exact rendering. Discomfort, suffering, ill, and trouble can occasionally be used in certain
connections. Misery, distress, agony, affliction and woe are never right. They are all much too strong & are
only mental (see Mrs. Rh. D. Bud. Psy. 83 -- 86, quoting Ledi Sadaw). I. Main Points in the Use of the
Word. -- The recognition of the fact of Dukkha stands out as essential in early Buddhism. In the very first
discourse the four socalled Truths or Facts (see sacc!ni) deal chiefly with dukkha. The first of the four
gives certain universally recognised cases of it, & then sums them up in short. The five groups (of physical
& mental qualities which make an individual) are accompanied by ill so far as those groups are fraught
with !savas and grasping. (Pañc' up!d!nakkhandh! pi dukkh!; cp. S iii.47). The second Sacca gives the
cause of this dukkha (see Ta*h!). The third enjoins the removal of this ta*h!. And the fourth shows the
way, or method, of doing so (see Magga). These ariyasacc!ni are found in two places in the older books
Vin i.10=S v.421 (with addition of soka -- parideva . . . etc. [see below] in some MSS). Comments on this
passage, or part of it, occur S iii.158, 159; with expln of each term
-- 325 --
(+soka) D i.189; iii.136, 277; M i.185; A i.107; Sn p. 140; Nd2 under sankh!r!; It 17 (with dukkhassa
atikkama for nirodha), 104, 105; Ps i.37; ii.204, 147; Pug 15, 68; Vbh 328; Nett 72, 73. It is referred to as
dukkha, samudaya, nirodha, magga at Vin i.16, 18, 19; D iii.227; Nd2 304iib; as !sav!na' khaya -- ñ!*a at
D i.83; Vin iii.5; as sacca No. 1+pa&iccasamupp!da at A i.176 sq. (+soka˚); in a slightly diff. version of No.
1 (leaving out appiyehi & piyehi, having soka˚ instead) at D ii.305; and in the formula catunna'
ariyasacc!na' ananubodh! etc. at D ii.90=Vin i.230. II. Characterisation in Detail. -- 1. A further
specification of the 3rd of the Noble Truths is given in the Pa&icca -- samupp!da (q.v.), which analyses the
links & stages of the causal chain in their interdependence as building up (anabolic=samudaya) &, after
their recognition as causes, breaking down (katabolic=nirodha) the dukkha -- synthesis, & thus constitutes
the Metabolism of kamma; discussed e. g. at Vin 1; D ii.32 sq. =S ii.2 sq.; S ii.17, 20, 65= Nd2 680i.c; S
iii.14; M i.266 sq.; ii.38; A i.177; mentioned e. g. at A i.147; M i.192 sq., 460; It 89 (=dukkhassa
antakiriy!). 2. Dukkha as one of the 3 qualifications of the sankh!r! (q. v.), viz. anicca, d., anatt!,
evanescence, ill, nonsoul: S i.188; ii.53 (yad anicca' ta' dukkha'); iii.112 (id.) iii.67, 180, 222; iv.28, 48,