sukha

Sukha (Pali and ) means happiness, pleasure, ease, joy or bliss. Among the early scriptures, 'sukha' is set up as a contrast to 'preya' (प्रेय) meaning a transient pleasure, whereas the pleasure of 'sukha' has an authentic state of happiness within a being that is lasting. In the Pāli Canon, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits and meditation.

==Etymology== According to Monier-Williams (1964), the etymology of sukha is "said to be su ['good'] + kha ['aperture'] and to mean originally 'having a good axle-hole'"; thus, for instance, in the Rig Veda sukha denotes "running swiftly or easily" (applied, e.g., to chariots). Monier-Williams also notes that the term might derive alternatively as "possibly a Prākrit form of su-stha, q.v.; cf. duh̩kha", literally meaning su ['good'] + stha ['standing']. Sukha is juxtaposed with dukha (Sanskrit; Pali: dukkha; often translated as "suffering"), which were established as the major motivating life principles in early Vedic religion. This theme of the centrality of dukha was developed in later years in both Vedic and Buddhist traditions. The elimination of dukha is the ''raison d'être of early Buddhism.