摘要：This is a useful analysis and overview of Theravàda ideas on the fivekhandhas (Sanskrit skandhas) as regards: a) the general notion of akhandha, b) their individual natures, c) their relationship to the links(nidànas) of the pa.icca-samuppàda sequence, and d) the logic of theirstandard order, which is seen to parallel links 3-10.The author surveys the khandhas as they are understood within thedeveloped Theravàda tradition, taking into account the canonical texts, pluscommentarial literature (giving full Pali of quotes in the notes). In doingso, though, he perhaps tends to treat the tradition as monolithic bydownplaying differences of ideas between the Suttas and later texts.Use has been made of the Mahidol University BUDSIRprogramme toòsearch exhaustively for contextsó dealing with the khandhas. However,the study makes apparent the fact that a computer search for certain keywords may overlook very relevant passages that do not happen to havethose words in them. A good example of this is the fact that in Boisvert.sstudy of the sa.khàras, whether as a khandha or nidàna, S.II.65-66 (seeConze et al, Buddhist Texts Through the Ages text 48) is overlooked. Thisis clearly on the sa.khàra nidàna, though it does not use the key wordsa.khàra. The passage shows that this nidàna includes the activities ofwilling, planning and having a latent tendency for something: a key indica-tion the range of meaning of the sankhàras.Boisvert rightly challenges some of the existing translations for indi-vidual khandhas, though to prefer òsensationó to òfeelingó for vedanà (pp.4-5) is to imply that such states only arise from the five senses and not alsofrom the mind-organ. Regarding another point of translation, he renderssakkàya-di..hi as òthe view that the body is existing (permanently)ó (p.4),thus overlooking the fact that sakkàya is used at M.I.299 simply to refer toall five khandhas. Sakkàya is thus best seen to mean either òexisting groupóor òown groupó. It does not just refer to the body, and, as a term, has noimplications as to the permanence of what it applies to. This implicationcomes from the views which are held concerning it. Sakkàya-di..hi thusmeans òViews on the existing group (as being or containing a permanentSelf)ó
