Editing Impermanence (section)

==Indian religions==
The [[Pali]] word for impermanence, ''anicca'', is a compound word consisting of ''"a"'' meaning non-, and ''"nicca"'' meaning "constant, continuous, permanent".<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355"/> While 'nicca' is the concept of continuity and permanence, 'anicca' refers to its exact opposite; the absence of permanence and continuity. The term is synonymous with the Sanskrit term ''anitya'' (a + nitya).<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355"/><ref name=buswelllopez47/> The concept of impermanence is prominent in Buddhism, and it is also found in various schools of Hinduism and Jainism. The term also appears in the [[Rigveda]].<ref>{{cite book|author=A. C. Paranjpe|title=Self and Identity in Modern Psychology and Indian Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJwSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 |year=2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-47151-3|page=172}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire|title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC&pg=PA136 |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-009896-9|pages=136 note 14}}</ref>

===Buddhism===
{{Main|Impermanence (Buddhism)}}
[[File:Buddhist Wheel of Life.jpg|alt=impermanence of life|thumb|According to Buddhism, living beings go through many births. Buddhism does not teach the existence of a permanent, immutable soul. The birth of one form from another is part of a process of continuous change.{{fact|date=July 2022}}]]
'''Impermanence''', called '''anicca''' (Pāli) or '''anitya''' (Sanskrit), appears extensively in the Pali Canon<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355"/> as one of the essential doctrines of [[Buddhism]].<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355" /><ref name="gombrich47">{{cite book|author=Richard Gombrich|title=Theravada Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-90352-8|page=47}}, '''Quote:''' "All phenomenal existence [in Buddhism] is said to have three interlocking characteristics: impermanence, suffering and lack of soul or essence."</ref><ref name="buswelllopez42">{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=42–43, 47, 581}}</ref> The doctrine asserts that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is "transient, evanescent, inconstant".<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355" /> All temporal things, whether material or mental, are compounded objects in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p355">{{cite book|author1=Thomas William Rhys Davids |author2=William Stede |title=Pali-English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC |year=1921 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1144-7 |pages=355, Article on '''Nicca''' }}</ref><ref name="buswelllopez47">{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8|pages=47–48, Article on ''Anitya''}}</ref> All physical and mental events are not metaphysically real. They are not constant or permanent; they come into being and dissolve.<ref name="Billington2002p56">{{cite book|author=Ray Billington|title=Understanding Eastern Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dACFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-79348-8|pages=56–59}}</ref>

===Hinduism===
The term '''''anitya''''' (अनित्य), in the sense of impermanence of objects and life, appears in verse 1.2.10 of the ''[[Katha Upanishad]]'', one of the [[Principal Upanishads]] of Hinduism.<ref>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/कठोपनिषदत्/प्रथमोध्यायः/द्वितीयवल्ली Katha Upanishad 1.2.10], Wikisource; Quote: जानाम्यहं शेवधिरित्यनित्यं न ह्यध्रुवैः प्राप्यते हि ध्रुवं तत् । ततो मया नाचिकेतश्चितोऽग्निः '''अनित्यै'''र्द्रव्यैः प्राप्तवानस्मि नित्यम् ॥ १०॥</ref><ref name=Deussen283>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, page 283 with footnote 1</ref> It asserts that material world is impermanent, but impermanent nature of things is an opportunity to obtain what is permanent (''nitya'') as the Hindu scripture presents its doctrine about [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self).<ref name="GombrichScherrer2008p209"/><ref name=Deussen283/><ref>{{cite book|author=Max Muller|title=The Upanishads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPmtToN8D7EC|year=1884|publisher=Oxford University Press (Reprinted Dover Press, 2012)|isbn=978-0-486-15711-5|page=9, verse 1.2.10}}</ref> The term Anitya also appears in the [[Bhagavad Gita]] in a similar context.<ref name="GombrichScherrer2008p209">{{cite book|author1=Richard Francis Gombrich|author2=Cristina Anna Scherrer-Schaub|title=Buddhist Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7_Rea05eAMC|year=2008|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3248-0|pages=209–210}}</ref>

In Chapter 2 of the [[Bhagavad Gita]], [[Krishna]] elucidates a profound spiritual truth to [[Arjuna]], emphasizing the distinction between the eternal nature of the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]] (soul) and the transient, perishable nature of the material world. [[Krishna]] conveys that while the body is subject to decay and death, the soul remains undying and unchanging. This teaching serves as a foundational philosophy in [[Hinduism]], encouraging detachment from material concerns and an understanding of the true, eternal self. This insight is pivotal for Arjuna, as it reorients his perspective from the battlefield's immediate concerns to the broader, spiritual dimensions of existence, urging him to perform his duty without attachment to the outcomes.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Bhagavad Gita |date=2007 |publisher=Nilgiri Press |isbn=978-1-58638-019-9 |editor-last=Easwaran |editor-first=Eknath |edition=2nd |series=The classics of Indian spirituality |location=Tomales, CA |pages=83,84, and 86}}</ref>

Buddhism and Hinduism share the doctrine of ''Anicca'' or ''Anitya'', that is "nothing lasts, everything is in constant state of change"; however, they disagree on the ''Anatta'' doctrine, that is whether Self exists or not.<ref name="Billington2002p56"/> Even in the details of their respective impermanence theories, state Frank Hoffman and Deegalle Mahinda, Buddhist and Hindu traditions differ.<ref name="HoffmanMahinda2013p162"/> Change associated with ''Anicca'' and associated attachments produces sorrow or ''Dukkha'' asserts Buddhism and therefore need to be discarded for liberation (''nibbana''), while Hinduism asserts that not all change and attachments lead to ''Dukkha'' and some change – mental or physical or self-knowledge – leads to happiness and therefore need to be sought for liberation (''[[moksha]]'').<ref name="HoffmanMahinda2013p162">{{cite book|author1=Frank Hoffman |author2=Deegalle Mahinda |title=Pali Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSNeAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78553-5 |pages=162–165 }}</ref> The ''Nicca'' (permanent) in Buddhism is [[Anattā|anatta]] (non-soul), the ''Nitya'' in Hinduism is [[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]] (Self).<ref name="GombrichScherrer2008p209"/>