Pali लोभ (lobha) Chinese 貪 (T) / 贪 (S) Korean 탐
(RR: tam) | Sanskrit राग (rāga) Japanese 貪
(rōmaji: ton) | |
English greed, sensuality, desire, attachment or excitement for sensory objects, lust, sexual desire, passion | ||
Raga (Sanskrit, also rāga; Pali lobha; Tibetan: 'dod chags) is a Buddhist concept of character affliction or poison referring to any form of "greed, sensuality, lust, desire" or "attachment to a sensory object". Raga (lobha) is identified in the following contexts within the Buddhist teachings:
Definitions
Rāga literally means "color or hue" in Sanskrit, but appears in Buddhist texts as a form of blemish, personal impurity or fundamental character affliction. As a philosophical concept, the term refers to "greed, sensuality, desire" or "attachment to a sensory object". It includes any form of desire including sexual desire and sensual passion, as well as attachments to, excitement over and pleasure derived from objects of the senses. Some scholars render it as "craving".
Raga is one of three poisons and afflictions, also called the "threefold fires" in Buddhist Pali canon, that prevents a being from reaching nirvana. To extinguish all "Raga" (greed, lust, desire, attachment) is one of the requirements of nirvana (liberation) in Buddhism.
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
What is craving (raga)? It is attachment to the three realms of existence. Its function consists of engendering suffering.Raga is said to arise from the identification of the self as being separate from everything else. This mis-perception or misunderstanding is referred to as avidya (ignorance).