Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why is nirvana considered the goal of Buddhist salvation?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Fresco The Last Judgment by Michelangelo covers the west wall of the Sistine Chapel, depicting Christ at the center surrounded by angels and human figures in dramatic poses. — eschatology The Second Coming as depicted in “The Last Judgment,” fresco by Michelangelo, 1536-41, on the west wall of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Palace, Vatican City.

In Buddhism, nirvana is considered the goal of salvation because it represents the definitive cessation of suffering and the cycle of rebirth, known as samsara.1

The Buddha taught that human existence is inherently characterized by suffering—such as aging, sickness, and death—driven by desire, hatred, and ignorance. By eradicating these negative causes, an individual can achieve nirvana, which literally means "blowing out" or "extinguishing" the flames of these attachments. Rather than a place, it is a state of absence—specifically the absence of suffering—that transcends the phenomenal world.12

While early traditions focused on the extinction of the causes of rebirth, later Mahayana Buddhism expanded these concepts, sometimes emphasizing the role of bodhisattvas in assisting the faithful. Ultimately, nirvana serves as the resolution to the Buddhist path, offering a state described as blissful, unchanging, and unconditioned, marking the final termination of the chain of causation that binds individuals to existence.12