A prefix to nouns and some- times to verbs meaning ‘bad, evil, wicked, inferior, {|hard|} or difficult, &c.’ (N. B. The s of dus is changed to r before vowels and soft conso- nants; see dur; to a Visarga before sibilants, to ś before c and ch, and to ṣ before k and p). Comp. kara a. 1. wicked, acting badly.

2. hard to be done or accomplished, arduous, difficult; vaktuṃ sukaraṃ kartuṃ duṣkaraṃ ‘sooner said than...