The Related Discourses

1. The Aggregates

This group of sūtras has the common theme of describing the five aggregates (C. 五陰, P. pañca khandhā, S. pañca skandhāḥ) and how they relate to Buddhist practice. These aggregates are form, feeling, conception, volition, and consciousness. The five aggregates represent the things that a person can identify with as a self, and they are the basic constituents of everyday experience and existence.

Specifically, form represents the physical and visible aspects of a person. Feeling represents the experience of pleasant, painful, and neutral feelings. Conception represents the conceptual and perceptual content of experience. Volition represents the actions that a person takes, which can be physical, verbal, or mental, though it is sometimes reduced to the intentions that produce all three kinds of action. Consciousness represents the mind that is aware and discerns specific things, and which in turn is conditioned by experience. When these five things come together, they form sentient beings, which in Buddhist thought include animals, humans, and other supernatural beings like spirits, demons, and gods.

The Aggregates group consists of 110 full sūtras plus 68 abbreviated variant sūtras for a total of 178. The material spans fascicles 1, 10, 3, 2, and 5 of Taisho No. 99, which have been placed in this order according to Yinshun’s reconstruction.

For a table of parallels with other Buddhist sources, see the Dharma Pearls Wiki. Below is a list of the English translations currently available.

Please note that:

• Titles for SĀ 1 sūtras are taken from the uddāna verse keywords that correspond to them. The originals were neither titled nor numbered otherwise. They have been divided into sections based on the same uddāna verses.
• Sūtra numbering follows Yinshun’s reconstruction, which is substantially different than the Taisho numbering. I’ve placed Taisho sūtra numbers in () throughout. For example, “1-4 (1)” means “sūtras 1-4 in Yinshun’s edition (sūtra 1 in the Taisho edition)”.
• When sūtra variants are described by the Chinese translator in notes after a full sūtra, I will either reconstitute the additional sūtras or incorporated them into the full sūtras. In either case, they will remain together as a single text.
• Existing public domain translations are included as external links to SuttaCentral until a Dharma Pearls translation is released. I indicate the translator in ().
• Parallels listed here are only the most direct parallels found in SN. Parallels that are vague or partial are placed in ().

The English translation remains a work in progress. Please feel free to send any feedback or corrections.

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