Saṅkhāra
Saṅkhāra (Pali; सङ्खार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or saṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations' or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'.
| Translations of saṅkhāra | |
|---|---|
| English | formations volitional formations volitional activities |
| Sanskrit | संस्कार (saṃskāra) |
| Pali | सङ्खार (saṅkhāra) |
| Bengali | সংস্কার |
| Burmese | သင်္ခါရ (MLCTS: θɪ̀ɰ̃kʰàja̰) |
| Chinese | 行 (Pinyin: xíng) |
| Japanese | 行 (Rōmaji: gyō) |
| Khmer | សង្ខារ (Sang kha) |
| Korean | 행 (RR: haeng) |
| Sinhala | සංස්කාර (saṃskāra) |
| Tibetan | འདུ་བྱེད་ ('du.byed) |
| Tagalog | ᜐᜀᜈᜃᜑᜀᜎᜀ (sankhala) |
| Thai | สังขาร (RTGS: sangkhan) |
| Vietnamese | 行 (hành) |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions. English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').
In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination.
According to the Vijnanavada school, there are 51 samskaras or mental factors.