also: こうか
world-destroying conflagration; kalpa-ending fire
Buddhist term for the great fire that destroys the world at the end of a kalpa. Used metaphorically for a massive, all-consuming fire or catastrophe.
Buddhist scriptures teach that the kalpa-ending fire will consume the world.
The war destroyed the city like a world-destroying conflagration.
Standard kanji spelling; the reading ごうか is the most common.
Alternate reading; less common and may be considered archaic or literary.
From Buddhist terminology, composed of 劫 (kalpa, an immense period of time) and 火 (fire). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is firmly rooted in Buddhist cosmology.