Pratityasamutpada
Also called: Dependent origination · Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Pratītyasamutpāda means "dependent origination". It is the Buddhist teaching that nothing exists on its own: everything arises because certain conditions are present, and it ends when those conditions end. The Buddha explained this as a chain of twelve links, starting with avidyā (ignorance) and running through desire and clinging to birth, old age and death. The chain shows how suffering and rebirth keep going, and how breaking it, especially by removing ignorance, leads to nibbāna. All schools of Buddhism accept this teaching as central.
Example
Buddhist tradition says the Buddha understood dependent origination while meditating under the pipal tree at Bodh Gaya, when he gained enlightenment. That is why his diagnosis was that ignorance and attachment are the root of human suffering.
Don't confuse with
- Karma: karma is the idea that our actions shape future births, and Buddhism shares it with Jainism and Vedic thought. Dependent origination is a wider Buddhist idea: it explains how all things, including suffering, arise from conditions.
Related concepts
- Four Noble Truths
- Dukkha
- Anicca
- Anatta
- Middle path
- Eightfold Path
- Nibbana
- Sarnath
- Buddha's teachings to laity
- Panchashila of Buddhism