Nirodha:.... What it means

Nirodha:
What it means

The word Nirodha has been translated as “cessation” for so long that it has become standard practice, and any deviation from it leads to queries. For the most part this standard translation is for the sake of convenience as well as to avoid confusing it for other Pali terms (apart from lack of a better word). In fact, however, this rendering of the word “Nirodha” as “ceased” can in many instances be a mis-rendering of the text.

Generally speaking, the word “cease” means to do away with something which has already arisen, or the stopping of something which has already begun. However, Nirodha in the teaching of Dependent Origination (as also in Dukkhanirodha, the third of the Four Noble Truths) means the non-arising, or non-existence, of something because the cause of its arising is done away with. For example, the phrase “when Avijja is Nirodha, sankhara are also Nirodha,” which is usually taken to mean “with the cessation of ignorance, volitional impulses cease,” in fact means “when there is no ignorance, or no arising of ignorance, or when there is no longer any problem with ignorance, there are no volitional impulses, volitional impulses do not arise, or there is no longer any problem with volitional impulses.” It does not mean that ignorance already arisen must be done away with before the volitional impulses which have already arisen will also be done away with.

Where Nirodha should be rendered as cessation is when it is used in reference to the natural way of things, or the nature of compounded things. In this sense it is a synonym for the words bhanga, breaking up, anicca, transient, khaya, cessation or vaya, decay. For example, in the Pali it is given: imam kho bhikkhave tisso vedana anicca sankhata paticcasamuppanna khayadhamma vayadhamma viragadhamma nirodhadhamma: “Monks, these three kinds of feeling are naturally impermanent, compounded, dependently arisen, transient, subject to decay, dissolution, fading and cessation.”[S.IV.214] (All of the factors occurring in the Dependent Origination cycle have the same nature.) In this instance, the meaning is “all conditioned things (sankhara), having arisen, must inevitably decay and fade according to supporting factors.” There is no need to try to stop them, they cease of themselves. Here the intention is to describe a natural condition which, in terms of practice, simply means “that which arises can be done away with.”

As for Nirodha in the third Noble Truth (or the Dependent Origination cycle in cessation mode), although it also describes a natural process, its emphasis is on practical considerations. It is translated in two ways in the Visuddi Magga. One way traces the etymology to “ni” (without) + “rodha” (prison, confine, obstacle, wall, impediment), thus rendering the meaning as “without impediment,” “free of confinement.”

This is explained as “free of impediments, that is, the confinement of Samsara.” Another definition traces the origin to anuppada, meaning “not arising” and goes on to say “Nirodha here does not mean bhanga, breaking up and dissolution.”

Therefore, translating Nirodha as “cessation”, although not entirely wrong, is nevertheless not entirely accurate. On the other hand, there is no other word which comes so close to the essential meaning as “cessation.” However, we should understand what is meant by the term.

In this context, the Dependent Origination cycle in its cessation mode might be better rendered as “being free of ignorance, there is freedom from volitional impulses ...” or “when ignorance is gone, volitional impulses are gone ...” or “when ignorance ceases to give fruit, volitional impulses cease to give fruit ...” or “when ignorance is no longer a problem, volitional impulses are no longer a problem.”