skanDa
1 skandha , m. (= Pali khandha; in mg. 1 = Skt. Lex. id. , recorded also in BR once from Bhāg.P. puṇya-s°, and once from Mbh. 12.449 = Crit. ed. 12.15.26 , where however acc. to Nīl. it means personal body , deha), ( 1 ) mass, large amount, of bulk rather than quantity: lokadhā-tuṃ savāyu-skandhaṃ sapṛthivī-°dhaṃ sateja(ḥ)-°dhaṃ Gv 535.26 f. , the universe with its whole mass of air, earth, and fire ; agni-sk° ( Pali aggi-kkh°), a mass of fire , Mvy 224 ; SP 72.6 (of a conflagration); 73.6 ; 438.8 ; LV 66.14 ; Mv i.13.14 (read with mss. °dha-nibhāntike); 95.14 ; ii.332.15 ; 393.23 ; iii.103.15 ; Jm 32.5 ; 193.1 ; Av i.331.13 ; arciskandha Gv 75.2 , a mass of flame or radiance ; āpa-skandha, mass of water , see s.v. āpa ; in Divy 230.23 to 231.4 skandha seems to refer to three superimposed masses of water (udaka-sk° 231.1, 4 , daka-sk° 231.1 , see s.v. daka ) in the ocean (they seem to be called bhūmi, stage or story , in 230.28 ff. ); bhoga-°dham (avahāya, prahāya) Mv ii.161.6 ; iii.213.3 , abandoning a whole mass of enjoyments (parallel with cpds. ending in -kāya, -varga, virtual synonyms of -skandha); puṇya-s°, mass of merit , SP 340.10 ; 351.12 ; Divy 197.19 ; Kv 20.14 (tathāgatānāṃ), etc. ; for śīla-s° see 3 below; duḥkha-s°, mass of misery , of life as a whole, LV 347.21 ; 348.15 ; 420.4 ; Mv ii.285.12 ; iii.448.15 ; 449.3 ; ( 2 ) the five agglomerations which in Buddhism are the basis of (or substitute for) the ‘personality,’ and which constitute the root of clinging to existence, hence more fully upādāna-s°, see upādāna (3), where the list is given, with examples; others, skandhānām udayaṃ ( q.v. ) vyayaṃ SP 69.16 ; maha-duḥkhaṃ pañca-skandhaṃ LV 191.7 ( vs ); °dhā pratītya samudeti hi duḥkham 419.13 ( vs ); vadhakāś ca skandhāḥ RP 44.15 ; etehi eva skandhehi parinirvāpayitavyaṃ Mv iii.263.13 , virtually with this present body (or, at least, existence, personality ; lit. elements of separate existence ); for others see s.v. dhātu 1 and 4; ( 3 ) in a good sense, religious agglomerations or concentrations ; rendered in PTSD main portions or articles of the dhamma : they may be, in Pali and BHS , three (ślla-s°, samādhi-s°, prajñā-s°, Sūtrāl. xx—xxi.22 ; in this sense prob. Tri- skandha[-pathadeśika] , q.v. ; same in Pali forms, each called ase(k)kha, q.v. in CPD , Itiv. 51.2 ff. , where they constitute a group of three dhammā, imehi … °mehi samannāgato …), in Pali once four (dhammakkhandhā, DN iii.229.14 f. , the above three plus vimutti-kkh°), but usually five, the above three plus vimukti-s° and vimuktijñānadarśana-s° (in Pali forms, e.g. as 5 dhamma-kkh° DN iii.279.15 ff. , each called ase(k)kha SN i.99.30 ff. et al. , CPD as above); these five listed as asama-sama-pañcaskandhāḥ [Page608-a] Mvy 103—108 , as lokottara-pañca-sk° Dharmas 23 ; as cinq skandhas purs AbhidhK. LaV-P. i.48 (the first, śīla-s°, belongs to the rūpa-s° of the 5 upādāna-s°, the other four to the saṃskāra-s°); in DN comm. iii.1022.21 f. (on DN iii.229.14 f. above) khandha in these cpds. is rendered by guṇa; individual units in this group sometimes mentioned alone, śīlaskandhe ca acchidre ye bhikṣū supratiṣṭhitāḥ Mv ii.353.20 ( prob. to be interpreted thus technically, yet cf. puṇya-skandha under 1 above); prajñāskandhaṃ niveśeyaṃ Mv i.42.15 = 53.12 ( vs ), in parallel, i.337.4 , replaced by prajñācakṣu, due to a misunderstanding ( prob. of copyists, cf. bhavacakṣukaiḥ in same line); the true reading may be °skandho niveśeyaḥ with mss. in i.42.15 ; there is a passing allusion to 80,000 dharmaskandha in Av ii.155.8 , prob. in substantially this mg. ; ( 4 ) in another special (good) sense, related fundamentally to prec. , there are three religious skandhas taught in the work called, for this reason, Triskandhaka , q.v. ; in it, acc. to Śikṣ 290.2 , trayaḥ skandhaḥ pāpadeśanā-puṇyānumodanā-buddhādhyeṣaṇā-(khyāḥ), puṇyarāśitvāt, three agglomerations (of religion), called confession of sin, approval of (gratification in) good deeds, requesting a Buddha (for instruction) , (called skandha) because they constitute heaps (rāśi = skandha) of merit . See Skandha-māra .