# निष्काम (niṣkāma)

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

निष्काम (niṣkāma) is a Sanskrit word meaning desireless, disinterested, or unselfish, desireless, free from desire, or unselfish, without wish or desire, or unwillingly, free from wish or desire, without wishing, involuntarily. Its 6 recorded definitions are grouped into 2 contexts, among them Adjective & Adverb: Desireless, and Acting Unwillingly/Without Desire, Adjective: Desireless, Unselfish, Disinterested.

- **SLP1:** `nizkAma`  **IAST:** niṣkāma  **Devanagari:** निष्काम
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/nishkama/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### Adjective & Adverb: Desireless, and Acting Unwillingly/Without Desire (3 definitions)
- 1. Free from wish or desire. 2. Unwillingly.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > निष्काम (kāma) (niṣkāma) [Printed book page 481 ] निष्काम (kāma) (niṣkāma) mfn. ( - मः - मा - मं (-maṃ) (-maḥ-mā-maṃ) ) Free from wish or desire. n. adv. ( - मं (-maṃ) ) Unwillingly. E. निर् (nir) neg. काम (kāma) desire. [ ID=22292 ]
- 1. Without wishing. 2. Involuntarily.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > निष्काम (niṣkāma) [Printed book page 428-b ] नि - ष्काम (ni-ṣkāma) ( मः - मा - मं ) ((maḥ-mā-maṃ)) a. Without wishing. n. Involuntarily. [ ID=21761 ]
- 1. Desireless, free from desire, or unselfish. 2. Without wish or desire, or unwillingly.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > निष्काम (niṣkāma) [Printed book page 0507-a ] निष्काम (niṣkāma) niṣ-kāma, as, ā, am, desireless, free from wish or desire, disinterested, unselfish; ( am ), ind. without wish or desire; unwillingly. —Niṣkāma-cārin, ī, iṇī, i, acting disinterestedly or without desire, unselfish in one's conduct. [ ID=25976 ]

### Adjective: Desireless, Unselfish, Disinterested (3 definitions)
- desireless, disinterested, or unselfish  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H3) [Printed book page 542,3] निष् (niṣ) — काम (—kāma) ( निष् (niṣ)- (niṣ-) ), mfn. desireless, disinterested, unselfish, ŚBr.; Mn. &c. [ ID=107476 ]
- 1. Desireless, unselfish. 2. Free from all worldly desires.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > निष्काम (niṣkāma) [Printed book page 393-05 ] निष्काम (niṣkāma) a. 1. desireless, disinterested, unselfish; 2. free from all worldly desires. [ ID=20128 ]
- desireless, disinterested  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > निष्काम (niṣkāma) [Printed book page 280 ] निष्काम (niṣkāma) a. desireless, disinterested. [ ID=17029 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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