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saṅkhārā
saṅkhāra
masc nom pl of saṅkhāra (noun); masc instr sg of saṅkhāra (noun); masc abl sg of saṅkhāra (noun); masc voc sg of saṅkhāra (noun); …
- intention; volitional formation; choice; karmic activity; lit. making together
- function; activity; process; lit. making together
- mental formation; mental activity; thought processes; fourth of the five aggregates; lit. making together
- condition; conditioned thing; construction; fabrication; concoction; lit. making together
- constituency; construction; condition; state; lit. making together
- having intention; with volition; having mental activity; lit. making together
Built from
- saṁ — prefix · together
Brings multiple elements into coordination or unified action. Cognate with English 'same' and Latin 'similis'.
- khār — root · make, do
From √kṛ (Sanskrit kartṛ 'maker'). Cognate with English 'create' and Latin 'creare'. In saṅkhāra, the sense is of putting-together, fabricating through coordinated causes.
- a — ending · agent noun
Masculine nominative singular stem. Forms the abstract noun 'making' (kāra) into the concrete plural 'formations' (saṅkhārā) in various cases as shown in the text.
Analysis. sam + kāra, 'making together'; the composite formations, whether karmic volitions, mental processes, or conditioned phenomena that arise from the coordinated action of causes.
Etymology. From saṁ (together) + √kṛ (make, do), the same root as English 'create' and Latin 'creare'. The prefix saṁ- conveys the sense of things brought into unified action; kāra (making) is the agent noun. In Buddhist doctrine, saṅkhārā are the constructed, compounded things that arise only in dependence on conditions—the opposite of the unconditioned (asaṅkhata), Nibbāna.