Skandha
Skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (Pañcupādānakkhandhā), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging.
| Translations of skandha | |
|---|---|
| English | Aggregate, mass, heap |
| Sanskrit | स्कन्ध (skandha) |
| Pali | खन्ध (khandha) |
| Bengali | স্কন্ধ (skawndhaw) |
| Burmese | ခန္ဓာ (ငါးပါး)။ (MLCTS: kʰàɰ̃dà) |
| Chinese | 蘊(T) / 蕴(S) (Pinyin: yùn) |
| Japanese | 蘊 (Rōmaji: un) |
| Khmer | បញ្ចក្ខន្ធ (UNGEGN: pănhchăkkhăn) |
| Korean | 온 (RR: on) |
| Mongolian | ᠴᠣᠭᠴᠠᠰ (tsogtsas) |
| Shan | ၶၼ်ႇထႃႇ ([khan2 thaa2]) |
| Sinhala | ස්කන්ධ (skandha) |
| Tibetan | ཕུང་པོ་ (phung po) |
| Tagalog | skandha |
| Thai | ขันธ์ |
| Vietnamese | Ngũ uẩn |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
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They are also explained as the five factors that constitute and explain a sentient being's person and personality, but this is a later interpretation in response to Sarvāstivādin essentialism. The 14th Dalai Lama subscribes to this interpretation.
The five aggregates or heaps of clinging are:
- form (or material image, impression) (rupa)
- sensations (or feelings, received from form) (vedana)
- perceptions (samjna)
- mental activity or formations or influences of a previous life (sanskara)
- consciousness (vijnana).
In the Theravada tradition, suffering arises when one identifies with or clings to the aggregates. This suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. Both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions assert that the nature of all aggregates is intrinsically empty of independent existence and that these aggregates do not constitute a "self" of any kind.