Saṃjñā

Saṃjñā (Sanskrit; Pali: sañña) is a Buddhist term that is typically translated as "perception" or "cognition." It can be defined as grasping at the distinguishing features or characteristics.

Saṃjñā is identified within the Buddhist teachings as follows:

  • One of the five aggregates
  • One of the seven universal mental factors in the Theravada Abhidharma.
  • One of the five universal mental factors in the Mahayana Abhidharma

    • Definitions

    Theravada

    Bhikkhu Bodhi states:

    According to the Theravada tradition, saññā experiences the same object as the citta it accompanies but it performs its own task: it 'perceives' or 'recognizes' the object and it 'marks' it so that it can be recognized again.

    The Atthasālinī (I, Part IV, Chapter 1, 110) provides the following two definitions for saññā:

  • ...It has the characteristic of noting and the function of recognizing what has been previously noted. There is no such thing as perception in the four planes of existence without the characteristic of noting. All perceptions have the characteristic of noting. Of them, that perceiving which knows by specialized knowledge has the function of recognizing what has been noted previously. We may see this procedure when the carpenter recognizes a piece of wood which he has marked by specialized knowledge...
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