Nishkama, Niṣkāma, Niṣkāmā, Nihkama: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Nishkama means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
The Sanskrit terms Niṣkāma and Niṣkāmā can be transliterated into English as Niskama or Nishkama, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
Alternative spellings of this word include Nishkam.
In Hinduism
Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) refers to “without selfish desire”. (cf. Glossary page from Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā).
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) refers to:—Free from desire. (cf. Glossary page from Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta).
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) refers to—Freedom from desire.
Vaishnava (वैष्णव, vaiṣṇava) or vaishnavism (vaiṣṇavism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshipping Vishnu as the supreme Lord. Similar to the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, Vaishnavism also developed as an individual movement, famous for its exposition of the dashavatara (‘ten avatars of Vishnu’).
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) refers to “(being) free from lust”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.24 (“Śiva consents to marry Pārvatī”).—Accordingly, as Śiva said to Viṣṇu and others: “[...] O lord of gods, O intelligent one, it is your duty not to be obdurate after considering the situation of what shall be done and what not. O Viṣṇu, a great favour to the gods has been done by me when Kāma was burnt. May ye all stay free from lust [i.e., niṣkāma] certainly along with me. Just as I, so also you, O gods, can without effort perform difficult tasks being endowed with the energy of great penance. [...]”.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)
Niṣkāmā (निष्कामा) refers to “she who is devoid of desire”, according to the Lalitāsahasranāma.—Lalitā’s thousand names are eulogized in the Lalitāsahasranāma, describing the goddess’s spiritual beauty on the analogy of physical, sensuous beauty. [...] In short, the Kula rites—sexual yet chaste—share in the same ambiguity as the goddess who presides over them. One way that the apparent contradiction is resolved is to accommodate the two conditions into the two aspects of deity. Tripurā in her immanent, manifest form ‘with qualities’ (saguṇa) is passionate, while her unmanifest form `devoid of qualities’ (nirguṇa) is passionless. To indicate this ambiguity in her nature she is called ‘Devoid of Qualities’ (nirguṇā) (130), which is thus the same as calling her ‘Devoid of Desire’ (niṣkāmā) (142) and ‘Devoid of Passion’ (nīrāgā) (156). So even though from one point of view she is highly passionate, she remains free of desire. Although, she gives passion (kāmadā) and arouses attachment (rāga-mathanī) (157), she also frees from it.
Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.
Vedanta (school of philosophy)
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) refers to “one who is free from desire” (i.e., the liberated man), according to the Aṣṭāvakragītā (5th century BC), an ancient text on spirituality dealing with Advaita-Vedānta topics.—Accordingly, [as Aṣṭavakra says to Janaka]: “[...] Those of weak intelligence think of themselves as pure non-duality, but because of their delusion do not know this, and remain unfulfilled all their lives. The mind of the man seeking liberation can find no resting place within, but the mind of the liberated man is always free from desire (niṣkāma) by the very fact of being without a resting place. [nirālambaiva niṣkāmā buddhirmuktasya sarvadā] [...]”.
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) or Niṣkāmakarma refers to “actions performed after renouncing its fruits”.—Each chapter of the Bhagavadgītā describes various aspects of the means to liberation (mukti/mokṣa), which is considered the highest good in Vedānta. Śaṃkara also holds the purpose of the Bhagavadgītā to be the attainment of liberation, quickly declaring knowledge of the self, preceded by renunciation of all actions to be its means. The performance of disinterested actions, i.e. actions performed after renouncing its fruits (niṣkāma-karma), is combined with the forsaking of both those Vedic rituals that are performed solely out of desire for some personal gain (kāmyakarma) and those that are forbidden in the Vedas (niṣiddhakarma).
Vedanta (वेदान्त, vedānta) refers to a school of orthodox Hindu philosophy (astika), drawing its subject-matter from the Upanishads. There are a number of sub-schools of Vedanta, however all of them expound on the basic teaching of the ultimate reality (brahman) and liberation (moksha) of the individual soul (atman).
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Niḥkāma (निःकाम).—a (For niṣkāma S) Devoid of desire, disinterested.
niṣkāma (निष्काम).—a (S) Free from desire, disinterested.
Niḥkāma (निःकाम).—a Devoid of desire, disinterested.
niṣkāma (निष्काम).—a Free from desire, disinterested
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Niṣkāma (निष्काम).—adj. disinterested, [Mānavadharmaśāstra] 12, 89.
Niṣkāma is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms nis and kāma (काम).
Niṣkāma (निष्काम).—[adjective] desireless, disinterested.
Niṣkāma (निष्काम):—[=niṣ-kāma] [from niṣ > niḥ] mfn. (niṣ-) desireless, disinterested, unselfish, [Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa; Manu-smṛti] etc.
Niṣkāma (निष्काम):—[ni-ṣkāma] (maḥ-mā-maṃ) a. Without wishing. n. Involuntarily.
Niṣkāma (निष्काम):—(nis + kāma) adj. frei von Wünschen [The Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 14, 7, 2, 8.] [Mārkāṇḍeyapurāṇa 26, 7.] [Kullūka] zu [Manu’s Gesetzbuch 2, 148. 4, 234.] uneigennützig: karman [Manu’s Gesetzbuch 12, 89.] [Scholiast] zu [Kapila 1, 86.] adv. in cārin [Mārkāṇḍeyapurāṇa 49, 15.]
Niṣkāma (निष्काम):—Adj. —
1) frei von Wünschen. —
2) uneigennützig (Werk).
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Ṇikkāma.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Niṣkāma (निष्काम) [Also spelled nishkam]:—(a) without attachment, disinterested, free from desires/wishes, desireless, unselfish; ~[tā] state of being without attachment, disinterestedness, unselfishness.
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Kannada-English dictionary
Niṣkāma (ನಿಷ್ಕಾಮ):—
1) [adjective] not desiring; not selfish; unselfish.
2) [adjective] not sensual; turned aside from lust.
--- OR ---
Niṣkāma (ನಿಷ್ಕಾಮ):—
1) [noun] absence of desires; unselfishness.
2) [noun] absence of lust.
3) [noun] an unselfish or lustless man.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Niṣkāma (निष्काम):—adj. 1. having no desires; disinterested; 2. done without expecting anything in return;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Nih, Nish, Kama, Nikaya.
Starts with (+0): Nishkamacarin, Nishkamakarma, Nishkamakarmayoga, Nishkamashibhu, Nishkamayoga, Nitkamasha.
Full-text (+6): Nishkamakarma, Nishkamacarin, Nishkamayoga, Nikkama, Nishkam, Jnanapurva, Arthakama, Bhogayoga, Shivayoga, Samasta, Mayanta, Samastadhvan, Visodhana, Bhikshu, Nishkamakarmayoga, Sambhrama, Ragamathani, Nirguna, Saguna, Madani.
Relevant text
Search found 58 books and stories containing Nishkama, Niḥ-kāma, Nih-kama, Niḥkāma, Nihkama, Niṣ-kāmā, Nis-kama, Nis-kāma, Niṣ-kāma, Nish-kama, Niṣkāma, Niskama, Niṣkāmā; (plurals include: Nishkamas, kāmas, kamas, Niḥkāmas, Nihkamas, kāmās, Niṣkāmas, Niskamas, Niṣkāmās). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary) (by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja)
Verse 2.1.14 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Verse 2.1.10-11 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 183 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 338 < [Hindi-Malayalam-English Volume 1]
Page 240 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 3]
Manusmriti with the Commentary of Medhatithi (by Ganganatha Jha)
Verse 12.89 < [Section X - The Highest Good]
Bhagavad Gita in contemporary perspective (study) (by Tapan Dutta)
Prevention of delusion and egoism < [Chapter 4 - Contemporary relevance of the teachings of the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā]
Message of Hope and Confidence to All Aspirants < [Chapter 4 - Contemporary relevance of the teachings of the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā]
Bhakti-rasayana by Madhusudana Sarasvati (by Lance Edward Nelson)
Notes for chapter 9 < [Chapter 9 - The continuity of Madhusudana’s thought on Bhakti]
Mahabharata (English) (by Kisari Mohan Ganguli)
Section CCXCVI < [Mokshadharma Parva]
Section CCLII < [Mokshadharma Parva]
Section CLXIV < [Anusasanika Parva]