Skandha

Skandha (devanāgarī: स्कन्ध) is a Sanskrit term usually translated as "aggregate". It used in Buddhism to refer to the five functions or aspects that constitute the human being. In Theosophy it is used in different ways, but most frequently to refer to psychic (i.e., mental and emotional) habits of perception and reaction.

In Buddhism

The sutras describe human beings as composed of five aggregates, nothing among them being a permanent "I":

• Rūpa ("form" or "matter"): The physical world and the material body.
• Vedanā ("sensation" or "feeling"): The pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations arising from the perception of an object.
• Samjñā ("conception" or "cognition"): Recognition of the qualities of an object perceived.
• Samskāra ("mental formations" or "volition"): Volition and all types of mental habits, which trigger a reaction to the perception of an object. Connected to the formation of karma.
• Vijñāna ("consciousness" or "discernment"): Awareness of or sensitivity to an object, but without conceptualization.

In Theosophy

Mme. Blavatsky defined them as follows:

Skandha or Skhanda (Sk.). Lit., “bundles”, or groups of attributes; everything finite, inapplicable to the eternal and the absolute. There are five —esoterically, seven— attributes in every human living being, which are known as the Pancha Shandhas. These are (1) form, rûpa; (2) perception, vidâna; (3) consciousness, sanjnâ; (4) action, sanskâra; (5) knowledge, vidyâna. These unite at the birth of man and constitute his personality. After the maturity of these Skandhas, they begin to separate and weaken, and this is followed by jarâmarana, or decrepitude and death.

Further reading

• Skandha at Theosopedia