Baddha

Baddha is a term from Sanskrit and Pali meaning bound, tied, or restrained. It is encountered as an adjective across a wide range of Indian religious and philosophical texts. Etymology and forms: derived from the root bandha, the participle baddha indicates something that has been bound or constrained. In Sanskrit and related languages, baddha appears in compounds and phrases describing bondage, captivity, or constraint.

In religious contexts, baddha is used to describe beings or states that are bound by karma, craving, or ignorance, i.e., part of samsara. The concept is often contrasted with mukta, liberated, in discussions of liberation and the path toward it; the precise usage varies by school, but the core idea is the condition of being conditioned or tied to cyclic existence.

In modern usage, baddha can function as a general adjective in Sanskrit-derived languages to denote something bound or connected, and may appear in idioms or expressions. It should not be confused with transliteration variants that refer to Buddhist contexts, such as Bauddha, which is a separate term.

See also: Bandha, Bondage, Saṃsāra, Moksha, Bauddha.

References: standard Sanskrit and Pali lexicons.