noun
time immemorial; the infinite past
Buddhist term referring to the beginningless, immeasurably distant past; used in doctrinal contexts to describe the eternal nature of existence or the long journey toward enlightenment.
無始曠劫より続く輪廻の苦しみ。
The suffering of samsara continuing since time immemorial.
無始曠劫の昔から仏は衆生を救おうとしている。
Since the infinite past, the Buddha has been trying to save sentient beings.
A Sino-Japanese Buddhist term composed of 無始 (beginningless) and 曠劫 (vast kalpa, an immeasurably long period). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the spelling is conventionally associated with the concept of an infinite past in Mahayana doctrine.