Pāḷi English Dictionary
Sutta Search
Dhammatalk SearchAnicca
References:
[SN 4 36.9]: Anicca:
Instability, Olds trans
[SN 4 35.161]:
BD: Koṭṭhiko, Olds, trans.
ATI: All About Change by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
| Pāḷi | MO | Hare | Horner | Punnaji | Bodhi | Nanamoli | Rhys Davids | (Mrs)Rhys Davids | Thanissaro | Walshe | Woodward | Warren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anicca (Nicca) | Change, Inconsistency, Impermanence, Instabillity | Impermanence | instability | Impermanence | Impermanence | change, inconstance | Impermanence | Impermanence | Transitoriness |
Unsettled: A=not, Ni=down, Ca=man-formed k-kha (from 6, or the six senses). I hear this as Not Settled (what PED hears as 'homely'). Not yet dumped in a lump. Then the more sophisticated meanings attach: not finished, not fixed, still subject to change, inconstant, impermanent.
Pāḷi Text Society
Pāḷi English Dictionary
Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede
[EDITED ENTRY]
Nicca (adj.) [Vedic nitya, adj.-formation fr. ni, meaning "downward"=onward, on and on; according to Grassmann (Wtb. z. Rig Veda) originally "inwardly, homely"] constant, continuous, permanent D III.31; S I.142; II.109, 198; IV.24 sq., 45, 63; A II.33, 52; V.210;...- nt. adv. niccaṁ perpetually, constantly, always...M I.326; III.271; Sn 69, 220, 336; Dh 23, 109, 206, 293;...Far more freq. as anicca (adj.; aniccaṁ nt. n.) unstable, impermanent, inconstant; (nt.) evanescence, inconstancy, impermanence. - The emphatic assertion of impermanence (continuous change of condition) is a prominent axiom of the Dhamma, and the realization of the evanescent character of all things mental or material is one of the primary conditions of attaining right knowledge (: anicca-saññaṁ manasikaroti to ponder over the idea of impermanence S II.47; III.155; V.132;...In this import anicca occurs in many combinations of similar terms, all characterising change, its consequences and its meaning, esp. in the famous triad "aniccaṁ dukkhaṁ anattā" (see dukkha II.2), e. g. S III.41, 67, 180; IV.28...Opposed to this ever-fluctuating impermanence is Nibbāna (q. v.), which is therefore marked with the attributes of constancy and stableness...
