Saṅkhāra
Buddhist concept of "formations" / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Saṅkhāra (Pali; सङ्खार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or saṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations'[1] or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'.
Translations of saṅkhāra | |
---|---|
English | formations volitional formations volitional activities |
Sanskrit | संस्कार (saṃskāra) |
Pali | सङ्खार (saṅkhāra) |
Bengali | সংস্কার |
Burmese | သင်္ခါရ (MLCTS: θɪ̀ɰ̃kʰàja̰) |
Chinese | 行 (Pinyin: xíng) |
Japanese | 行 (Rōmaji: gyō) |
Khmer | សង្ខារ (UNGEGN: Sângkhar; ALA-LC: Sangkhār) |
Korean | 행 (RR: haeng) |
Sinhala | සංස්කාර (saṃskāra) |
Tibetan | འདུ་བྱེད་ ('du.byed) |
Tagalog | ᜐᜀᜈᜃᜑᜀᜎᜀ (sankhala) |
Thai | สังขาร (RTGS: sangkhan) |
Vietnamese | 行 (hành) |
Glossary of Buddhism |
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions".[2] These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions.[3] English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,'[4] 'determinations,'[5] 'fabrications'[6] and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').[7]
In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination.[8][9]
According to the Vijnanavada school,[1] there are 51 samskaras or mental factors.[10]