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saññākkhandho

saññākkhandha

masc nom sg of saññākkhandha (noun)

1. aggregate of perception; mass of recognitions; third of the five aggregates

Built from

• saññā — root · perception, recognition
  From saṁ + √sañj: the mind bringing sense-data together into recognized forms. The prefix saṁ conveys the drawing-together of sensory input into unified perception.
• kkhandha — stem · aggregate, heap
  From Sanskrit khaNDa (segment, piece, division). The five khandhas are the five componentparts into which experience is divisible; here the term names the aggregate of perception as the third skandha in Buddhist analysis of the person.

Analysis. saññā (perception, recognition) + kkhandha (aggregate, heap); the compound forms a bahuvrīhi meaning 'that whose aggregate is perception', i.e. the perceptual faculty as one of the five skandhas.

Etymology. saññā from √sañj (to attach, bind, cling) with prefix sam- (together) — 'bringing together', the mind's binding of sense-data into recognized forms. kkhandha from Sanskrit khaNDa (piece, part, section), cognate with English shank, German Schenkel (leg bone) as a divisible segment; the five khandhas are the five divisions into which the person is analyzable.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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