Sukha (Pali and ) means happiness, pleasure, ease, joy or bliss. Among the early scriptures, 'sukha' is set up as a contrast to 'preya' (प्रेय) meaning a transient pleasure, whereas the pleasure of 'sukha' has an authentic state happiness within a being that is lasting. In the Pāli Canon, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits and meditation.
Etymology
According to Monier-Williams (1964), the etymology of sukha is "said to be su ['good'] + kha ['aperture'] and to mean originally 'having a good axle-hole'"; thus, for instance, in the Rig Veda sukha denotes "running swiftly or easily" (applied, e.g., to chariots). Monier-Williams also notes that the term might derive alternatively as "possibly a Prākrit form of su-stha, q.v.; c.f. duh̩kha", literally meaning su ['good'] + stha ['standing']. Sukha is juxtaposed with dukha (Sanskrit; Pali: dukkha; often translated as "suffering"), which was established as the major motivating life principles in early Vedic religion. This theme of the centrality of dukkha was developed in later years in both Vedic and the offshoot Buddhist traditions. The elimination of dukkha is the raison d'être of early Buddhism.
Pali literature
In the Pali Canon and related literature, the term is used in a general sense to refer to "well-being and happiness" (hitasukha) in either this present life or future lives. In addition, it is a technical term associated with describing a factor of meditative absorption (jhāna) and a sensory-derived feeling (vedanā).
General life pursuit
In the Pāli Canon, the Buddha discusses with different lay persons "well-being and happiness" (hitasukha) "visible in this present life" (diha-dhamma) and "pertaining to the future life" (samparāyika), as exemplified by the following suttas.
Anana Sutta
In the Anaa Sutta (AN 4.62), the Buddha describes four types of happiness for a "householder partaking of sensuality" (gihinā kāma-bhoginā): the happiness of earning (atthi-sukha) wealth by just and righteous means the happiness of using (bhoga-sukha) wealth liberally on family, friends, & on meritorious deeds the happiness of debtlessness (anaa-sukha) be free from debts the happiness of blamelessness (anavajja-sukha), to live a faultless and pure life without committing evil in thought, word, and deed Of these, the wise (sumedhaso) know that the happiness of blamelessness is by far the greatest householder happiness. Economic and material happiness is not worth one sixteenth part of the spiritual happiness arising out of a faultless and good life.
Kalama Sutta
In the Kālāmā Sutta (AN 3.65), townspeople ask the Buddha how they are to ascertain which spiritual teaching is true. The Buddha counsels that one should "enter and dwell" (upasampajja vihareyyātha) in "things" or "qualities" (dhammā) that are: skillful (kusalā), blameless (anavajjā), praised by the wise (viññuppasatthā), and when put into practice, are conducive to well-being and happiness (samattā samādinnā hitāya sukhāya savattantī) Using the latter criterion, the Buddha then asks the townspeople to assess greed (lobha), hate (dosa) and delusion (moha) whereby it is agreed that entering and dwelling in non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion lead to well-being and happiness. The Buddha states that, given this understanding, a noble disciple (ariyasāvako) pervades all directions with lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity (see the four brahmaviharas); and, by doing so, one purifies oneself, avoids evil-induced consequences, lives a happy present life and, if there is a future karmic rebirth, one will be born in a heavenly world.