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Saṁyutta Nikāya 22.48 Linked Discourses 22.48
5. Attadīpavagga 5. Be Your Own Island
Khandhasutta Aggregates
Sāvatthinidānaṁ. At Sāvatthī.
“Pañca, bhikkhave, khandhe desessāmi, pañcupādānakkhandhe ca. “Mendicants, I will teach you the five aggregates and the five grasping aggregates. “Grasping” is so central to the concept of the five aggregates that we rarely find the “bare” aggregates mentioned as here. To head off a misunderstanding, the purpose of this discourse is not to establish that an arahant has aggregates free of grasping, since this is not brought up at all. Rather, it is to clarify the nature of grasping in relation to the aggregates.
Taṁ suṇātha. Listen …
Katame ca, bhikkhave, pañcakkhandhā? And what are the five aggregates? The five aggregates are the five “masses” or “conglomerates” or “categories” consisting of all instance of that type of phenomena. So far as I can tell, it was not a Vedic technical term. However, the Jains know khandha as a clump of more than one atom, namely a “molecule” (Tattvārthasūtra 5.5). It seems that, along with other terms of similar meaning (sakkāya and puggala; see notes to SN 22.22 and SN 22.105), it was vocabulary shared with the Jains, though used in different senses. I have not discovered anywhere where the five are grouped together as such, although in the Suttas people who are not Buddhists seem familiar with them.
Yaṁ kiñci, bhikkhave, rūpaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ ajjhattaṁ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikaṁ vā sukhumaṁ vā hīnaṁ vā paṇītaṁ vā yaṁ dūre santike vā, ayaṁ vuccati rūpakkhandho. Any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: this is called the aggregate of form.
Yā kāci vedanā …pe… Any kind of feeling at all …
yā kāci saññā … Any kind of perception at all …
ye keci saṅkhārā atītānāgatapaccuppannā ajjhattaṁ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikā vā sukhumā vā …pe… ayaṁ vuccati saṅkhārakkhandho. Any kind of choices at all …
Yaṁ kiñci viññāṇaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ ajjhattaṁ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikaṁ vā sukhumaṁ vā hīnaṁ vā paṇītaṁ vā yaṁ dūre santike vā, ayaṁ vuccati viññāṇakkhandho. Any kind of consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: this is called the aggregate of consciousness.
Ime vuccanti, bhikkhave, pañcakkhandhā. These are called the five aggregates.
Katame ca, bhikkhave, pañcupādānakkhandhā? And what are the five grasping aggregates? The five aggregates are not presented as a catch-all category that encompasses all of reality, but rather five types of phenomena that provoke attachment, forming the basis of what we take to be “self”. Desire is what drives the formation of attachment, but it requires all the aggregates to function. Thus the “grasping” aggregates are numbered “five” after the hand that grasps.
Yaṁ kiñci, bhikkhave, rūpaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ …pe… yaṁ dūre santike vā sāsavaṁ upādāniyaṁ, ayaṁ vuccati rūpupādānakkhandho. Any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near, which is accompanied by defilements and fuels grasping: this is called the grasping aggregate of form. The text illustrates the noun “grasping” (upādāna) with the future passive participle “graspable” (upādāniya). I render it “fuels grasping” to capture the secondary sense of “fuel” for the fire (SN 12.52:1.2). This is the aspect of the aggregates that stimulate or provoke desire and attachment. The “grasping” itself is the desire and lust for the aggregates (SN 22.121). But desire only functions as part of a system involving all the aggregates, hence the aggregates are neither identical to nor separate from the grasping (SN 22.82:4.3). Elsewhere we find the past participle “grasped” (upādinna) as that which has been “appropriated” or “taken up” at birth (MN 28:6.4).
Yā kāci vedanā …pe… yā dūre santike vā sāsavā upādāniyā, ayaṁ vuccati vedanupādānakkhandho. Any kind of feeling at all …
Yā kāci saññā …pe… yā dūre santike vā sāsavā upādāniyā, ayaṁ vuccati saññupādānakkhandho. Any kind of perception at all …
Ye keci saṅkhārā …pe… sāsavā upādāniyā, ayaṁ vuccati saṅkhārupādānakkhandho. Any kind of choices at all …
Yaṁ kiñci viññāṇaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ …pe… yaṁ dūre santike vā sāsavaṁ upādāniyaṁ, ayaṁ vuccati viññāṇupādānakkhandho. Any kind of consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near, which is accompanied by defilements and fuels grasping: this is called the grasping aggregate of consciousness.
Ime vuccanti, bhikkhave, pañcupādānakkhandhā”ti. These are called the five grasping aggregates.”
Chaṭṭhaṁ.