Saṅkhāra
The word sañkhāra appears in the Pali Canon and Sanskrit texts as a term meaning 'formations' or 'that which has been put together'. It straddles an active-passive divide, functioning both as things that construct other things and as things that are constructed. In the Kaushitaki Upanishad verse 2.6, the concept appears alongside discussions of consciousness and the self. The Chandogya Upanishad 4.16.2, 4 references it within the context of spiritual knowledge and ritual preparation. Ancient Indian scholar Panini also mentions the term in his grammatical works, establishing its presence across classical Indian philosophy before Buddhism adopted it. Buddhist Pitaka texts use the word with meanings somewhat different from Upanishadic usage, particularly regarding impermanence. Scholar David Kalupahana notes in his 1992 book A History of Buddhist Philosophy that the term fuses object and subject as interdependent parts of human consciousness. It connotes impression, disposition, conditioning, forming, perfecting in one's mind, influencing sensory and conceptual faculty. Any preparation or sacrament that impresses, disposes, influences, or conditions how one thinks, conceives, or feels falls under this definition.
In the first passive sense, sañkhāra refers to conditioned things or mental imprints found throughout early Buddhist doctrine. All aggregates in the world, physical or mental concomitants, are considered conditioned things according to state early Buddhist texts. A tree, a cloud, a human being, a thought, or a molecule all qualify as sañkhāras because they arise from combinations of conditions. The Buddha taught that all sañkhāras are impermanent and essenceless. These subjective dispositions prevent the Buddha from attempting to formulate an ultimately objective view of the world, according to scholar David Kalupahana. Since conditioned things lack real essence, they cannot be reliable sources of pleasure. Understanding the significance of this reality constitutes wisdom within the tradition. This sense appears in the Four Noble Truths and in the theory of dependent origination. Ignorance or misconceptions about impermanence and non-self lead to Tañhā and rebirths through this mechanism. The Samyutta Nikaya II.12.1 presents one explanation of this process alongside other Pali texts. The last words of the Buddha, recorded in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, declared: 'Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration , strive on untiringly for your liberation.'
In the second active sense, sankhara-khandha refers to the form-creating faculty of mind within Buddhist doctrine. It is part of the doctrine of conditioned arising or dependent origination known as paticca-samuppada. Here the term denotes karmically active volition or intention that generates rebirth and influences the realm of rebirth. Sankhara herein becomes synonymous with karma, including actions of body, speech, and mind. The Samyutta Nikaya states that living beings are reborn by means of actions of body and speech. The Buddha stated that all volitional constructs are conditioned by ignorance of impermanence and non-self. This ignorance leads to the origination of sankharas and ultimately causes human suffering. When ignorance conditions volitional formations, these formations condition consciousness in turn. The Buddha elaborated that what one intends, arranges, and obsesses about serves as support for the stationing of consciousness. There being a support creates an establishing of consciousness. When that consciousness lands and grows, production of renewed becoming occurs in the future. Future birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair follow from this process. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering and stress according to SN 12.38.
The Vijnanavada school classifies fifty-one mental factors concurrent with mind under the category of sañkhāra. These formations function as aspects of the mind that apprehend the quality of an object. They possess the ability to color the mind according to Geshe Tashi Tsering's 2006 work Buddhist Psychology: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought. Mental factors can be described as dispositions that determine how individuals perceive reality. They operate concurrently with citta or mind itself within the framework of Yogacara philosophy. Each factor contributes to the overall structure of conscious experience without existing independently. The classification system provides a detailed map of psychological processes occurring during meditation and daily life. Scholars like Herbert Guenther and Leslie Kawamura translated key texts describing these relationships in their 1975 publication Mind in Buddhist Psychology. Erik Pema Kunsang further elaborated on gateway knowledge concepts in his 2004 translation Gateway to Knowledge Vol. 1. These mental constructions remain central to understanding how consciousness functions across different states of awareness.
The Buddha emphasized the need to purify dispositions rather than eliminate them completely according to scholar David Kalupahana. Kalupahana states that eliminating dispositions entirely would constitute epistemological suicide since dispositions determine perspectives. Development of one's personality toward perfection or imperfection rests with one's dispositions, he argues in A History of Buddhist Philosophy published by University of Hawaii Press in 1992. When preliminary nibbana with substrate occurs, constructive consciousness is completely destroyed and no new formations will be constructed. However sankharas in the sense of constructed consciousness continue to exist as karmically-resultant-consciousness. Each liberated individual produces no new karma but preserves a particular individual personality resulting from traces of karmic heritage. The very fact that there exists a psycho-physical substrate during the remainder of an arahant's lifetime shows the continuing effect of karma. The cessation of all such sankharas is synonymous with Awakening and attainment of nirvana. English translations for the term include activities, concoctions, conditions, conditioning factors, conditioned things, constructions, determinations, fabrications, formations, karmic formations, mental constructions, mental constructs, preparations, volitional activities, volitional dispositions, and volitional formations.
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Common questions
What does the word sañkhāra mean in Buddhist texts?
The term sañkhāra means formations or that which has been put together. It appears in the Pali Canon and Sanskrit texts as a concept straddling an active-passive divide.
When did ancient Indian scholar Panini mention the term sañkhāra?
Ancient Indian scholar Panini mentions the term in his grammatical works before Buddhism adopted it. This establishes its presence across classical Indian philosophy prior to Buddhist usage.
How does David Kalupahana define sañkhāra in A History of Buddhist Philosophy published 1992?
Scholar David Kalupahana notes in his 1992 book A History of Buddhist Philosophy that the term fuses object and subject as interdependent parts of human consciousness. He states it connotes impression, disposition, conditioning, forming, perfecting in one's mind, influencing sensory and conceptual faculty.
Why are all sañkhāras considered impermanent according to early Buddhist doctrine?
All sañkhāras are considered impermanent because they arise from combinations of conditions and lack real essence. The Buddha taught that these subjective dispositions prevent any ultimately objective view of the world since conditioned things cannot be reliable sources of pleasure.
What is the relationship between ignorance and sankhara-khandha in dependent origination?
The Buddha stated that all volitional constructs are conditioned by ignorance of impermanence and non-self. This ignorance leads to the origination of sankharas which condition consciousness and cause human suffering through the process described in SN 12.38.