Upādānaskandha

upādānaskandha (P. upādānakandha; T. nye bar len pa'i phung po/nyer len gyi phung po ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པའི་ཕུང་པོ་/ཉེར་ལེན་གྱི་ཕུང་པོ་; C. quyun 取蘊) is translated as "the aggregates of clinging," "the grasping aggregates," "the aggregrates that are the object of clinging," etc.

This term refers to "the five aggregates (skandha), which are viewed as the foundational objects of clinging (upādāna)."

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee states:

The five aggregates (skandha) are also called “aggregates of clinging” (upādānaskandha) when they refer to a non-liberated person. According to the Nibandhana commentary on Distinctly Ascertaining the Meanings, they are called “aggregates of clinging” for different reasons:

• they are “born from the clingings” because the aggregates arise due to the three mental afflictions of attraction, aversion, and confusion, which can also be called “clingings”; or,
• they are so called because the aggregates are under the control of the “clingings,” in the sense that it is due to the three mental afflictions that the aggregates remerge, after death, in a new realm of existence

(Samtani 1971, pp. 87–88; the explanation in the Nibandhana partly follows Abhidharmakośabhāṣya on kārikā 1.8; see Pradhan 1967, p. 5).

The five grasping aggregates are suffering

In the Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), the Buddha states:

In brief, the five grasping aggregates are suffering.

According to the Princeton Dictionary, the above statement "suggests that suffering is intrinsic to existence itself (see saṃskāraduḥkhatā), and that as long as one clings to continuing existence (bhava), the cycle of suffering within saṃsāra will continue."

Alternate usages and translations

The term upādānaskandha is also translated as:

• appropriated aggregates

  This indicates that the aggregates are caused, or "appropriated," by karma and kleshas, and in turn serve as the cause for future karma and kleshas.

• appropriating aggregates

  (1) This indicates that although the aggregates are empty of a "self" (atman) that "appropriates" a new form of existence, "they provide the locus for the karman and kleśa (viz., the clinging or grasping itself) that produce future forms of the aggregates and future suffering."

  (2) This refers to the five aggregates as the bases upon which a nonexistent self is mistakenly projected. That is, they are the basis of “appropriation” (upādāna) insofar as all grasping arises on the basis of the aggregates.

• aggregates for appropriation

  The five aggregates (skandha) of form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (upādāna) insofar as all conceptual grasping arises on the basis of these aggregates.

External links

• nye bar len pa'i phung po, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• nyer len gyi phung po, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པའི་ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།, 84000 Glossary of Terms
• Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2021), "g.48 five aggregates of clinging", Distinctly Ascertaining the Meanings, 84000 Reading Room