Sanskrit Noun
icchantika
incorrigibles
इच्छन्तिक
འདོད་ཆེན་, འདོད་ཆེན་པོ་
一闡提
Basic Meaning
Literally, "those with great desire," icchantikas could be rendered as hedonists or addicts. However, the term is generally used to refer to those who, due to their insatiable desire, are incapable of enlightenment.
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| Term Variations | |
|---|---|
| Key Term | icchantika |
| Topic Variation | icchantika |
| Tibetan | འདོད་ཆེན་, འདོད་ཆེན་པོ་ ( döchen, döchenpo) |
| Wylie Tibetan Transliteration | 'dod chen, 'dod chen po ( döchen, döchenpo) |
| Devanagari Sanskrit | इच्छन्तिक ( ichantika) |
| Romanized Sanskrit | icchantika ( ichantika) |
| Chinese | 一闡提 |
| Chinese Pinyin | yī chǎn tí |
| Japanese Transliteration | issendai |
| Buddha-nature Site Standard English | incorrigibles |
| Dan Martin's English Term | Those who are incapable of entering the Path. |
| Term Information | |
| Source Language | Sanskrit |
| Basic Meaning | Literally, "those with great desire," icchantikas could be rendered as hedonists or addicts. However, the term is generally used to refer to those who, due to their insatiable desire, are incapable of enlightenment. |
| Did you know? | This was a somewhat controversial subject, especially in relation to the tathāgatagarbha teachings that state "all beings have buddha-nature." Whether icchantikas are forever excluded from liberation or that they might eventually change their ways and thus become capable of entering the path is therefore a point of contention. |
| Term Type | Noun |
| Definitions | |
| Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | See page 370: In Sanskrit, “incorrigibles”; a term used in the Mahāyāna tradition to refer to a class of beings who have lost all potential to achieve enlightenment or buddhahood. The term seems to derive from the present participle icchant (desiring), and may be rendered loosely into English as something like “hedonist” or “dissipated” (denotations suggested in theTibetan rendering 'dod chen (po), “subject to great desire”). (The Sinographs are simply a transcription of the Sanskrit.) |
