''Nidāna'' () is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

word that means "cause, motivation or occasion" depending on the context. The word is derived from the Sanskrit prefix ''ni-'' (; "down", "into") plus the root ''dā'' (; "to bind"), forming the verb ''nidā'' (; "to bind on, fasten"). This in turn yields the noun ''nidāna'' (; lit. "a band, rope or halter"). It appears in the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

'', such as hymn 10.114.2, and other Hindu scriptures, wherein it means "primary or first cause, linked cause"; in other contexts such as ''Rigveda'' 6.32.6, ''nidāna'' refers to the literal meaning of a rope or band that links, binds or fastens one thing to another, such as a horse to a cart. The word has been borrowed into modern languages such as

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

to mean "diagnosis" or "primary cause" among others.

Buddhism

''Nidāna'' is the term used to describe the standard introduction of a Buddhist

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

, where the formula "

Thus have I heard ''Thus have I heard'' (; ) is the common translation of the first line of the standard introduction (Pāli and ) of sutra, Buddhist discourses. This phrase serves to confirm that the discourse is coming from the Buddha himself, as a "seal of a ...

" (attributed to

Ānanda Ānanda (Pali and Sanskrit: आनंद; 5th4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of ...

) is followed by a description of the location and occasion on which

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

gave a particular teaching.Oxford Reference: evaṃ mayā śrūtam
/ref> The other primary use of ''nidāna'' in the Buddhist tradition is in the context of the

Twelve Nidānas Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year * Dozen, a group of twelve. Years * 12 BC * AD 12 * 1912 * 2012 Film * ''Twelve'' (2010 film), based on the 2002 novel * ''12'' (2007 film), by Russi ...

, also called the "Twelve Links of Dependent Origination". These links present the mechanistic basis of repeated birth, ''

saṃsāra ''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Sanskrit word that means "wandering" as well as "world," wherein the term connotes "cyclic change" or, less formally, "running around in circles." ''Saṃsāra'' is referred to with terms or p ...

'', and resultant ''

duḥkha ''Duḥkha'' (; , ) "suffering", "pain", "unease", or "unsatisfactoriness", is an important concept in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Its meaning depends on the context, and may refer more specifically to the "unsatisfactoriness" or "uneas ...

'' (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness) starting from avidyā (ignorance, misconceptions).

Hinduism

The term ''nidāna'' appears in numerous ancient and medieval Hindu texts wherein it means "first cause, primary cause, original or essential cause". This includes the

Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

that include theosophical speculations, as well as medical texts such as ''

Sushruta Samhita The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and one of the most important such treatises on this subject to survive from the ancient world. The ''Compendium of Sushruta, Suśruta'' is one of the foundational texts of ...

'' and ''

Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' () is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the '' Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancient India. It is one of the three w ...

'', where a large sub-book is titled ''Nidāna Sthāna'' (; "Pathology"),{{cite book, author=Malavika Kapur , title=Psychological Perspectives on Childcare in Indian Indigenous Health Systems , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7r-CQAAQBAJ , year=2015, publisher=Springer , isbn=978-81-322-2428-0 , pages=12 as well as in chapters of the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

, wherein these discuss cause of disease or various natural phenomena.

Notes

Buddhist philosophical concepts

Buddhism

Hinduism

See also

Notes