Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c6.149

c6.149

Khandha.—The three (increased to four a little later) dhamma° are reminiscent of “trayo dharmas-khandhāḥ.... (Ch. Up II. 2. 3. 1). On the other hand, the scheme of the 5 upādānakkhandhas is much later. It assumes a full-fledged theory of Anatta, and a conception of Viññāṇa which has travelled far from its original form. Starting from the simple distinction between kāya or rūpa and viññāṇa (citta), psychological analysis in the Nikāyas arrived at this subtler conception through an intermediate stage. And this result was itself superseded in the Abhidharma stage (see below).