saṅkhārupādānakkhandho

saṅkhārupādānakkhandha

masc nom sg of saṅkhārupādānakkhandha (noun)

accumulation of mental activity that is clung to

Built from

saṅkhāra — stem · formations, conditions
From saṁ + √kṛ (cognate with Latin creare, English create), denoting things brought into being through causes and conditions.
upādāna — stem · clinging, fuel
From upa (close, alongside) + ā (toward) + √dā (to place, put). Literally 'taking up close'; the spatial imagery of fuel gripped by fire underlies the doctrinal sense of craving as the grasping fuel of saṃsāra.
kkhandha — stem · aggregate, heap
Related to √khan- 'to dig'; the five khandhas are heaps of experience into which conditioned existence is analyzed in the doctrinal framework.

Analysis. saṅkhāra + upādāna + kkhandha; saṅkhāra (formations, conditioned things) + upādāna (clinging, fuel taken up close to the fire) + kkhandha (aggregate, heap). The compound identifies the mental formations as one of the five aggregates and specifies that it is characterized by clinging (upādāna), marking it as a factor in suffering and rebirth.

Etymology. saṅkhāra: saṁ + √kṛ 'doing together, compounding'; upādāna: upa + ā + √dā 'taking up close (fuel to fire)'; kkhandha: from √khan- 'to dig', hence heap or mass. The spatial metaphor of upādāna (things gripped close to the source of combustion) animates the Buddhist technical sense of craving and attachment as fuel for saṃsāra.

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

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