# क्लेश (kleśa)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/klesha

क्लेश (kleśa) is a Sanskrit word meaning pain, affliction, distress, and anguish, three bodily actions, four of speech, and three of the mind, wrath, anger, worldly occupation, care, trouble, pain, affliction, distress, or anguish, worldly occupation, care, or trouble. Its 17 recorded definitions are grouped into 7 contexts, among them Noun 'Kleśa': Multiple Core Meanings, Pain / Suffering / Distress, Etymological Note (Root √kliś).

- **Root:** क्लिश् (kliś)
- **Etymology:** E. क्लिश to suffer or inflict pain, affix घञ् — E. kliśa to suffer or inflict pain, affix ghañ
- **SLP1:** `kleSa`  **IAST:** kleśa  **Devanagari:** क्लेश
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/klesha/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### Noun 'Kleśa': Multiple Core Meanings (5 definitions)
- 1. Pain, affliction, or distress. 2. Anguish from disease. 3. Worldly trouble or care. 4. Anger.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) m. ( - शः (-śaḥ) ) 1 Pain, affliction or distress. 2 Pain from disease, anguish. 3 Worldly occupation, care, trouble. 4 Wrath, anger. E. क्लिश (kliśa) to suffer or inflict pain, affix घञ् (ghañ). [ ID=12153 ]
- 1. Pain. 2. Care. 3. Anger.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 224-a ] क्लेश (kleśa) ( शः ) ((śaḥ)) 1. m. Pain; care; anger. [ ID=11607 ]
- 1. Pain, anguish, or suffering. 2. Wrath or anger. 3. Worldly occupation.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 217-23 ] क्लेश (kleśa) m. 1. Pain, anguish, trouble, suffering, क्लेश (kleśa) ः फलेन हि पुनर्नवतां विधत्ते (kleśaḥ phalena hi punarnavatāṃ vidhatte) K.S. v.86, Bg. xii.5, xviii.8; 2. wrath, anger; 3. worldly occupation. [ ID=10770 ]
- 1. Pain, affliction, or distress. 2. Anguish, trouble, or worldly care. 3. Wrath or anger.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) m. ( - शः (-śaḥ) ) 1. Pain, affliction or distress. 2. Pain from disease, anguish. Worldly occupation, care, trouble. 4. Wrath, anger. E. क्लिश् (kliś) to suffer or inflict pain, affix घञ् (ghañ). [ ID=12147 ]
- 1. Pain, affliction, distress, or anguish. 2. Anger. 3. Worldly occupation, care, or trouble.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 0263-b ] Kleśa, as, m. pain, affliction, distress; pain from disease, anguish; wrath, anger; worldly occupation; care, trouble. —Kleśa-kārin, ī, iṇī, i, causing pain, afflicting. —Kleśa-kṣama, as, ā, am, capable of enduring pain and trouble. —Kleśa-da, as, ā, am, distressing. —Kleśa-nāśana, as, ā, am, destroying or palliating trouble. —Kleśa-prahāṇa, am, n. ter- mination of distress, especially of worldly cares and Page0263-c+ 73 passions. —Kleśa-bhāgin, ī, inī, i, having trouble. —Kleśa-bhāj, k, k, k, having trouble. —Kleśā- paha (°śa-ap°), as, ā, am, allaying pain or suffer- ing, consolatory, consoling; palliative; ( as ), m. a son. [ ID=16301 ]

### Pain / Suffering / Distress (5 definitions)
- pain, affliction, distress, and anguish  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 324,1] क्लेश (kleśa) a m. pain, affliction, distress, pain from disease, anguish, Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title); Yājñavalkya (Author); Mahābhārata (Title) &c. [ ID=58617 ]
- torment, pain, suffering, affliction, distress  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 077-2 ] क्लेश (kleśa) kleś-a, m. torment, pain, suffering, affliction, distress; -in, a. painful, distressing; hurting. [ ID=6496 ]
- Pain  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 0232-b ] क्लेश (kleśa) kleśa, i. e. kliś + a, m. Pain, Man. 2, 227. — Comp. A-, m. want of bodily pain, Man. 4, 3; abl. śāt, with- out any effort, Pañc. ii. d. 9. Garbha-, m. pains in labour, Mārk. P. 22, 45. [ ID=3987 ]
- affliction, pain, distress  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 139 ] क्लेश (kleśa) m. affliction, pain, distress. [ ID=8749 ]
- pain, trouble  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 146-a ] kleśa, m. pain; trouble. [ √kliś. ] [ ID=1257 ]

### Etymological Note (Root √kliś) (2 definitions)
- See the root klish.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H1) [Printed book page 324,2] क्लेश (kleśa) b &c. See √ क्लिश् (kliś). [ ID=58674 ]
- See under the root klish.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > [Printed book page 0263-c ] क्लेश (kleśa) kleśa. See under rt. kliś. [ ID=16315 ]

### Related Verb Meanings (2 definitions)
- 1. To speak articulately. 2. To distress. 3. To impede or obstruct. 4. To kill or strike.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 260 ] क्लेश (kleśa) r. 1st cl. ( क्लेश (kleśa) ते (kleśate) ) 1 To speak articulately. 2 To distress. 3 To impede or obstruct. 4 To kill, to strike. [ ID=12152 ]
- 1. To speak articulately. 2. To distress. 3. To impede or obstruct. 4. To kill or strike.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > क्लेश (kleśa) [Printed book page 214-a ] क्लेश (kleśa) r. 1st cl. ( क्लेश (kleśa) ते (kleśate) ) 1. To speak articulately, 2. To distress. 3. To impede or obstruct. 4. To kill, to strike. [ ID=12146 ]

### Anger / Wrath (1 definition)
- wrath, anger  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > wrath, anger, Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=58619 ]

### Philosophical 'Kleśas' (1 definition)
- 1. Ignorance, egotism, desire, aversion, and tenacity of mundane existence. 2. Three bodily actions, four of speech, and three of the mind.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (in Yoga phil. five Kleśas are named, viz. अ - विद्या (a-vidyā), ‘ignorance’, अस्मि - ता (asmi-tā), ‘egotism’, राग (rāga), ‘desire’, द्वेष (dveṣa), ‘aversion’, and अभिनिवेश (abhiniveśa), ‘tenacity of mundane existence’, Yoga-sūtra (Title); Prabodha-candrodaya (Title); Sarvadarśana-saṃgraha (Title); the Buddhists reckon ten, viz. three of the body [murder, theft, adultery], four of speech [lying, slander, abuse, unprofitable conversation], three of the mind [covetousness, malice, scepticism] Buddhist literature (Literary category); Sarvadarśana-saṃgraha (Title) ) [ ID=58618 ]

### Worldly Occupation / Care (1 definition)
- worldly occupation, care, trouble  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > worldly occupation, care, trouble (= व्यवसाय (vyavasāya) ), Lexicographers, esp. such as Amarasiṃha, Halāyudha, Hemacandra, etc. (Author) [ ID=58620 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

The Sanskrit Lexicon app for iPhone, iPad and Mac: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sanskrit-lexicon-dictionary/id6746787546