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HandWiki. Saṅkhāra. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/33631 (accessed on 25 September 2026).
HandWiki. Saṅkhāra. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/33631. Accessed September 25, 2026.
HandWiki. "Saṅkhāra" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/33631 (accessed September 25, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, November 09). Saṅkhāra. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/33631
HandWiki. "Saṅkhāra." Encyclopedia. Web. 09 November, 2022.

Saṅkhāra (Pali; सङ्खार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or saṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations' or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'. In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". 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. English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations'). In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination. According to the Vijnanavada school, there are 51 samskaras or mental factors.

volition volitional 'volitional

References

  1. Thomas William Rhys Davids; William Stede (1921). Pali-English Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 664–665. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC. 
  2. Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 1041. https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ. 
  3. Stephen Phillips (2009). Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy. Columbia University Press. pp. 81–87. ISBN 978-0-231-14484-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=hlOrAgAAQBAJ. 
  4. Surendranath Dasgupta (1992). A History of Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint, Original: Cambridge University Press, 1922). pp. 263 with footnote 1, 272–273. ISBN 978-81-208-0412-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=PoaMFmS1_lEC. 
  5. David J. Kalupahana (1992). A History of Buddhist Philosophy: Continuities and Discontinuities. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-0-8248-1402-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=SlDArya3YvcC. 
  6. Harold Coward (1990). Derrida and Indian Philosophy. State University of New York Press. pp. 161–162. ISBN 978-0-7914-0500-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=a7ucoHEbtgAC. 
  7. Jonathan Walters (2015). Donald S. Lopez Jr.. ed. Buddhism in Practice: (Abridged Edition). Princeton University Press. pp. 110. ISBN 978-1-4008-8007-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=zaC4CgAAQBAJ. 
  8. N. Ross Reat; Edmund F. Perry (1991). A World Theology: The Central Spiritual Reality of Humankind. Cambridge University Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0-521-33159-3. https://archive.org/details/worldtheologycen0000reat. 
  9. Paul Williams; Anthony Tribe; Alexander Wynne (2002). Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. Routledge. pp. 65–67. ISBN 978-1-134-62324-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=e9SFAgAAQBAJ. 
  10. John Clifford Holt (1995). Discipline: The Canonical Buddhism of the Vinayapiṭaka. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-81-208-1051-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=3gnDWr2CCWkC. 
  11. D.C. Wijeratna. "The First and Last Words of Lord Buddha". https://www.academia.edu/37451745. 
  12. Sister Vajira & Francis Story. "Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha (DN 16)". https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html#fn-58. 
  13. Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Simon & Schuster. pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-0-86171-973-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=MEA6AwAAQBAJ. 
  14. William S Waldron (2003). The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge. pp. 19–23. ISBN 978-1-134-42886-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=x9iCAgAAQBAJ. 
  15. William S Waldron (2003). The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-1-134-42886-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=x9iCAgAAQBAJ. 
  16. See, for instance, SN 12.2 (Thanissaro, 1997b), where the Buddha states: 'And what are fabrications? These three are fabrications: bodily fabrications, verbal fabrications, mental fabrications. These are called fabrications.' http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.002.than.html
  17. William S Waldron (2003). The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge. pp. 10. ISBN 978-1-134-42886-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=x9iCAgAAQBAJ. 
  18. Mathieu Boisvert (1995). The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravada Psychology and Soteriology. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 93–98. ISBN 978-0-88920-257-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=mUTRBtvSUaUC. 
  19. William S Waldron (2003). The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge. pp. 190-191 notes 2-5, Chapter 1. ISBN 978-1-134-42886-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=x9iCAgAAQBAJ. 
  20. William S Waldron (2003). The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the Context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-134-42886-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=x9iCAgAAQBAJ. 
  21. SN 12.38 (Thanissaro, 1995). http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.038.than.html
  22. Guenther (1975), Kindle Location 321.
  23. Kunsang (2004), p. 23.
  24. Geshe Tashi Tsering (2006), Kindle Location 456.
  25. Geshe Tashi Tsering (2006), Kindle Location 564-568.
  26. David Kalupahana, Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way. Motilal Banarsidass, 2005, page 48.
  27. David Kalupahana, "A History of Buddhist Philosophy." University of Hawaii Press, 1992, page 75.
  28. Steven Collins, Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge University Press, 1982, page 207.
  29. Leigh Brasington http://www.leighb.com/intv0405.htm
  30. See Piyadassi (1999). This is also suggested, for instance, by Bodhi (2000), p. 46, who in writing about one sense of saṅkhāra states: "In the widest sense, saṅkhāra comprises all conditioned things, everything arisen from a combination of conditions." http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.060.piya.html
  31. According to Bodhi (2000), p. 44, 'determinations' was used by Ven. Ñāṇamoli in his Majjhima Nikaya manuscripts that ultimately were edited by Bodhi. (In the published volume, Bodhi changed Ñāṇamoli's word choice to "formations.")
  32. According to Nanavira Thera 'the word sankhāra, in all contexts, means 'something that something else depends on', that is to say a determination (determinant).' (Notes on Dhamma: Sankhāra) http://nanavira.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=84
  33. See, for instance, Thanissaro (1997b). http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.002.than.html
  34. See the extended discussion at Bodhi (2000), pp. 44-47. Other translations considered by but ultimately rejected by Bodhi include "constructions" (p. 45) and "activities" (p. 45, especially to highlight the karmic aspect of saṅkhāra).
  35. Milinda's questions. Sacred books of the Buddhists;. I.B. Horner (trans.). London: Luzac. 1963. 
  36. Ñāṇānanda, Katukurunde, 1988-1991, The Mind Stilled: 33 Lectures on Nibbāna, online at http://www.seeingthroughthenet.net. Bhikkhu Ñāṇānanda also notes, "in the ancient Indian society, one of the primary senses of the word saṅkhāra was the make-up done by actors and actresses" (http://www.seeingthroughthenet.net/files/eng/books/ms/nibbana_the_mind_stilled_I.pdf , p. 109). http://www.seeingthroughthenet.net
  37. Gethin, p. 136
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