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saññupādānakkhandho

saññupādānakkhandha

masc nom sg of saññupādānakkhandha (noun)

1. accumulation of recognition that is clung to; mass of recognized concepts that are grasped

Built from

• saññā — root · perception, recognition
  From √jñā 'know', cognate with Sanskrit jñāna and English know (both from Indo-European √gen-). Saññā is the mental act of labeling and recognizing objects.
• upādāna — stem · clinging, taking up
  Compound of upa- (near, alongside) and ā- (toward) with √dhā (place). The image is of fuel taken up close to fire; metaphorically, craving that grasps and holds. This is the second condition in paṭiccasamuppāda.
• kkhandha — stem · aggregate, heap
  From √skand (split, scatter); the five aggregates (khandhas) are the traditional Pali analysis of experience into form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. The kk- reflects Pali sandhi (assimilation of final n of upādāna-n- before initial k-).

Analysis. saññā (perception) + upādāna (clinging, taking up) + khandha (aggregate, heap). In the doctrine of the five aggregates (pañcakkhandhā), the second is vedanā (feeling); the third is saññā (perception/recognition), here specified as the object of clinging—perception crystallized into conceptual grasping.

Etymology. saññā from √jñā 'know' (Sanskrit jñāna, English know, Latin gnōscere); upādāna from upa- (near, alongside) + ā- (toward) + √dhā (place), 'taking up close', the fuel grasped by thirst; khandha (heap, aggregate) from √skand (scatter, split), the five heaps into which experience is divided in analysis.

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

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