FIVE AGGREGATES

The skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāli) are the five functions or aspects that constitute the sentient being. In English, these five aspects are known as the five aggregates. The five aggregates are: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

Five aggregates (pañcaskandha):

1. Form/matter (Skt., P.: rūpa): external and internal matter. Externally, rūpa is the physical world. Internally, rūpa includes the material body and the physical sense organs.

2. Feeling/sensation (Skt., P.: vedanā): sensing an object as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

3. Perception/conception/apperception/cognition/discrimination (Skt. saṃjñā, P. saññā): registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).

4. Formation/impulse/volition/fabrication/compositional factors/mental states (Skt. saṃskāra, P. saṅkhāra): all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.

5. Consciousness/discernment (Skt. vijñāna, P. viññāṇa)

Summary terms of the five aggregates:
Form, felling, perception, formation, and consciousness
In Sanskrit: Rūpa, vedanā, saṃjñā, saṃskāra, vijñāna
In Pāli: Rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, viññāṇa