Ta¼h¤: [Sk. t.r.s¼¤a, besides tar.sa =Av. tarsna thirst, Gr. tarsi/a dryness, Goth. paúrsus, [mo: parched] Ohg. durst, E. drought & thirst; to *ters to be, or to make dry in Gr. te/rsomai, Lat. torreo to roast, Goth. gapaírsan, Ohg. derren...] lit. drought, thirst; fig. craving, hunger for, excitement, the fever of unsatisfied longing...Oppd to peace of mind (upekh¤, santi). -- A. Literal meaning...tormented by hunger & thirst...). -- B. In its secondary meaning: ta¼h¤ is a state of mind that leads to rebirth. Plato puts a similar idea into the mouth of Socrates (Phædo 458, 9). Neither the Greek nor the Indian thinker has thought it necessary to explain how this effect is produced. In the Chain of Causation (D II. 34) we are told how Ta¼h¤ arises -- when the sense organs come into contact with the outside world there follow sensation and feeling, & these (if, as elsewhere stated, there is no mastery over them) result in Ta¼h¤. In the First Proclamation (S V.420 ff.; Vin I.10) it is said that Ta¼h¤, the source of sorrow, must be rooted out by the way there laid down, that is by the Aryan Path. ...Ta¼h¤ binds a man to the chain of Sa¸sara, of being reborn & dying again & again (until Arahantship or Nibbana is attained, Ta¼h¤ destroyed, & the cause alike of sorrow and of future births removed...(see Nibbana).
- 1. Systematizations: The 3 aims of t. k¤ma°, bhava°, vibhava°, that is craving for sensuous pleasure, for rebirth (anywhere, but especially in heaven), or for no rebirth; cp. Vibhava... -- The source of t. is said to be sixfold as founded on & relating to the 6 ... objects of sense or sensations, viz. sights, sounds, smells, etc.: D II.58...; in threefold aspects (as k¤ma-Ta¼h¤, bhava° & vibhava°) with relation to the 6 senses...; 36 kinds: 18 referring to sensations (illusions) of subjective origin..., & 18 to sensations affecting the individual in objective quality...at A II.212;... 2. Import of the term: (a) various characterizations of t.:...; grouped with diÂÂhi (wrong views)... T. fetters the world & causes misery: ...; it is the 4th constituent of Mara's army.... - (b) Ta¼h¤ as the inciting factor of rebirth...; as a link in the chain of interdependent causation (see paÂiccasamupp¤da): vedan¤-paccay¤ Ta¼h¤, Ta¼h¤-paccay¤ up¤dana¸ Vin I.1, 5; D II.31, 33, 56, etc.; ... (c) To have got rid of t. is Arahantship:...D III.238; S III.8, 107 sq., 190;...S I.16=63, 121...; III.26...;