Yuddha
/ˈjʊd̪.d̪ʱə/noun
A Sanskrit term meaning battle, warfare, or combat, especially in Hindu philosophical and epic contexts.
Did you know?In the *Bhagavad Gita*, the word appears in the compound *dharma-yuddha*, traditionally understood as a “righteous” or duty-bound war, making battle a metaphysical conflict as well as a physical one.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Iranian period
Proto-Indo-Iranian
*yudhás
“Reconstructed term associated with fighting or battle; the deeper Indo-European ancestry is uncertain.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
yudh-
“To fight, wage war, or engage in combat.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
yuddha
“Fought, battle, or combat; formed from the verbal root meaning “to fight.””
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit
yuddha
“War or battle, including martial conflict described in epic and religious literature.”
Pali and Middle Indo-Aryan
Pali
yuddha
“Battle or warfare, preserving the Sanskrit form in Buddhist and South Asian textual traditions.”
Modern English
English
yuddha
“A scholarly and religious loanword used in discussions of Sanskrit texts, Hindu philosophy, and Indian epic tradition.”
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