Obeyesekere, Ranjini. Sinhala Writing and the New Critics.
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Gunasena, 1974.
Obeyesekere, Ranjini. “A Survey of the Sinhala Literary Tradi-
tion.” In Modern Sri Lanka: A Society in Transition,ed. Tissa
Fernando and Robert N. Kearney. Syracuse, NY: Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse Univer-
sity, 1979.
Obeyesekere, Ranjini, trans. The Jewels of the Doctrine: Stories of
the Saddharmaratnavaliya.Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1991.
Obeyesekere, Ranjini, trans. Portraits of Buddhist Women: Sto-
ries from the Saddharmaratnavaliya.Albany: State University
of New York Press, 2001.
Reynolds, C. H. B., ed. An Anthology of Sinhalese Literature up
to 1815.London: Allen and Unwin, 1970.
RANJINIOBEYESEKERESKANDHA (AGGREGATE)
According to Buddhist texts, the entire universe, in-
cluding the individual, is made up of different phe-
nomena (dharma). Although all these phenomena of
existence are reduced to transitory entities by the the-
ory of anatman (no-self), Buddhism classifies these
phenomena into different categories, including the
conventionally accepted concept of “person.” The
three concepts of bases (ayatana), elements (dhatu),
and aggregates (skandha; Pali, khandha) constitute dif-
ferent schemes for classifying the various phenomena.
Although the aggregates are nothing but a “convenient
fiction,” the Buddha nevertheless made frequent use
of the skandha when asked to explain the elements at
work in the individual.
According to this scheme, what is conventionally
called a “person” can be understood in terms of five
aggregates, the sum of which must not be mistaken for
a permanent entity since beings are nothing but an
amalgam of ever-changing phenomena. The five ag-
gregates are variously translated as matter or form
(rupa); sensation, emotion, or feeling (vedana); recog-
nition or perception (samjña); karmic activity, forma-
tion, force, or impulse (samskara); and consciousness
(vijñana). Rupais made of four primary elements (ma-
habhuta): air, fire, water, and earth. It is also described
as an amalgam of twenty-three secondary elements,
which include the five sense organs, as well as their re-
spective objects. Vedana,on the other hand, refers to
the actual experience of the senses, always qualified as
being either pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. The term
samjñais assigned to the mental faculty that imposes
categories upon the sensory stimuli, which interprets
what is sensed. The fourth aggregate, samskara, is
probably the hardest to grasp because of the various
meanings associated with the term. It is a force, karmic
energy, that generates all the other aggregates; the the-
ory of PRATITYASAMUTPADA (DEPENDENT ORIGINA-
TION), for example, stipulates that on account of
samskara, vijñanaand the other links of the chain
emerge. Samskara can therefore be seen as the driving
force, the fuel, or the energy that keeps the five aggre-
gates bound together within the cycle of life and death
(SAMSARA). Samskara is not only a causal factor; its sig-
nification includes everything that has been caused.
Each of the five aggregates is therefore a samskara in
the sense that it is conditioned. The last aggregate is
vijñana(consciousness), the faculty responsible for ap-
prehending what manifests itself through each of the
six senses.As with each of the links of the theory of dependent
origination, the five aggregates are mutually dependent
on one another. They need to be perceived from a
cyclical perspective, where the last (vijñana) is a key
factor in the emergence of the first (rupa). This causal
process points to the everlasting cycle of samsara as
opposed to NIRVANA, which, in the THERAVADAtradi-
tion, is defined as a state totally devoid of the aggre-
gates, beyond mind and matter.See also:Anatman/Atman (No-Self/Self ); Conscious-
ness, Theories of; Dharma and DharmasBibliography
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Boisvert, Mathieu. The Five Aggregates; Understanding Thera-
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rier University Press, 1995.
Collins, Steven. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Ther-
avada Buddhism.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1982.
Gethin, R. M. “The Five Khandhas: Their Theatment [sic] in
the Nikayas and Early Abhidhamma.” Journal of Indian Phi-
losophy52 (1986): 35–53.
Hamilton, Sue. Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the
Human Being According to Early Buddhism.London: Luzac
Oriental, 1996.MATHIEUBOISVERTSKANDHA(AGGREGATE)