万劫不复

萬劫不復

wànjiébùfù

idiom #31,605

Meanings

Yīdàn zǒushàng qílù, kěnéng wànjiébùfù.

Once you take the wrong path, you may be lost beyond recovery.

Tā pà zìjǐ xiànrù wànjiébùfù de jìngdì.

He was afraid of falling into a state from which there was no return.

culture

劫 (jié) is a Buddhist term for a kalpa — an immense unit of cosmic time. 万劫 literally means ten thousand kalpas, i.e. forever.

history

Attested in 宋·释道原《景德传灯录》, a Chan Buddhist lineage record.

万 wàn

劫 jié

不 bù

复 fù