Nītārtha

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Key Term	nītārtha
Hover Popup Choices	definitive meaning
In Tibetan Script	ངེས་དོན་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	nges don
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	नीतार्थ
Romanized Sanskrit	nītārtha
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	ngedön
English Standard	definitive meaning
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	definitive meaning
Richard Barron's English Term	definitive meaning
Gyurme Dorje's English Term	definitive meaning
Ives Waldo's English Term	true meaning
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Refers to a teaching that is literally true.
Has the Sense of	The unadulterated truth, in the sense of something that is taught explicitly without any underlying intention or need for further interpretation.
Related Terms	neyārtha
Definitions
Tshig mdzod Chen mo	gdul bya khyad par can rnams kyi ngor/ chos thams cad kyi chos nyid skye 'gag sogs spros pa dang bral ba'i don zab mo stong pa nyid dang/ dngos po gshis kyi gnas lugs rang bzhin gyis 'od gsal zhing smra bsam brjod pa thams cad las 'das pa'i don ston pa rnams dang/ de ston byed gsung rab dgongs 'grel dang bcas pa'o/
Other Definitions	"While Tibetan thinkers generally characterize definitive teachings as those that explicitly teach ultimate truth, which is the ultimate purport of the Buddha's teachings, and provisional teachings as those teachings that do not explain ultimate truth clearly and that require further interpretation in order to ascertain the ultimate purport of the Buddha's intent, they disagree on which of the Buddha's teachings are definitive or provisional." - Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows (2017), page 3.
Further Reading Material	Lipman, Kennard. "Nītārtha, Neyārtha, and Tathāgatagarbha in Tibet." Journal of Indian Philosophy 8, no. 1 (1980): 87–95.

Refers to a teaching that is literally true.

In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas.

"Ultimate truth" or "absolute truth"; the reality of things as they truly are.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra.