The instant the door opened, she screamed.
Her expression changed in an instant.
その刹那、何が起こったのか理解できなかった。
In that moment, I couldn't understand what had happened.
kshana; shortest possible interval of time
Buddhist term for the smallest unit of time, originally defined as the duration of a single mental event (about 1/75 second). Rare outside specialized contexts.
仏教では、刹那は心の一瞬の動きを表す単位とされる。
In Buddhism, kshana is considered a unit representing a single momentary movement of the mind.
その刹那、すべてが変わったように感じた。
In that instant, it felt as if everything had changed.
瞬間 is the common, everyday word for 'moment' or 'instant', while 刹那 is more literary and emphasizes extreme brevity with a dramatic or philosophical tone.
一瞬 is often used adverbially as 一瞬で／一瞬にして in everyday speech, whereas 刹那 carries a heavier, more poetic weight and appears less in casual conversation.
束の間 describes a fleeting span of time that still has a slight duration, while 刹那 stresses an instant so brief it is almost point-like.
永遠 means 'eternity', standing in direct contrast to 刹那's sense of an infinitesimally short moment.
a moment; an instant
ephemeral; transitory; fleeting
living only for the moment; carpe diem attitude
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
Irregular kanji usage (ateji); rarely used and not recommended for learners.
Borrowed from Sanskrit kṣaṇa via Buddhist texts. The kanji 刹 (setsu) and 那 (na) are used phonetically (ateji) to represent the sound. The original Buddhist meaning refers to an extremely short unit of time.