Kāya refers to pañcupādānakkhandha kāya in most suttās. Another possible meaning is “physical body.” Both are aggregates or collections. The generic meaning of kāya is “aggregate” or “collection.”
July 5, 2025
Kāya as Physical Body
1. Kāya means anything made of a collection of many entities.
- Probably most people know the usage of “kāya” as the “physical body.” It is a collection of many body parts. The following are some examples of that usage.
- We experience external sensory inputs via six senses: eyes, ears, tongue, nose, body, and the mind. Here, “kāyañca paṭicca phoṭṭhabbe ca uppajjati kāya viññāṇaṁ” indicates “kāya viññāṇa” arising dependent on the physical body (kāya) and touches (phoṭṭhabba). See “Chachakka Sutta (MN 148).”
- Another example is in the “Kāya Sutta (AN 10.23)” where “Sādhu vatāyasmā kāyaduccaritaṁ pahāya kāyasucaritaṁ bhāvetū’ti” says to “give up that bad bodily conduct and develop good bodily conduct.” Those refer to akusala kamma done by the physical body (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct), speech, and the mind, i.e., kāya, vaci, and mano kamma.
- The “Mahāsakuludāyi Sutta (MN 77)” states “ayaṁ kho me kāyo rūpī cātumahābhūtiko mātāpettikasambhavo..” meaning, “This physical body of mine is made up of the four great elements (pathavi, apo, tejo, vāyo), produced by mother and father.”
Kāya Can Also Refer to “Mental Collections”
2. “Kāya” is mainly used to refer to many “mental collections.”
- The “Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33)” describes many types of “mental collections:” viññāṇa kāyā, phassa kāyā, vedanā kāya, saññā kāya, sañcetanā kāya, taṇhā kāya, etc.
- The Buddha explained that the mind generates a complex set of “mental collections” upon receiving a sensory input.
- They fall into five primary types: rupa upādānakkhandha through viññāṇa upādānakkhandha.
- One must keep in mind the following regarding those “pañca upādānakkhandha” (commonly translated as “five grasping aggregates”): (i) In a puthujjana (average human), pancakkhandha (widely translated as “five aggregates”) NEVER arise, and ALWAYS pañca upādānakkhandha arise, (ii) those pañca upādānakkhandha are abbreviated as merely rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa (and NOT explicitly as the corresponding upādānakkhandha) in most suttās.
- Also, the five upādānakkhandhās are collectively referred to as “kāya” in many suttās.
Kāya as Pañcupādānakkhandha
3. The “Cetana Sutta (AN4.171)” says, “avijjāya tveva asesavirāganirodhā so kāyo na hoti..” OR “When ignorance fades away and ceases with nothing left over (i.e, when one attains the Arahant stage of Nibbāna), kāya ceases to exist.”
- Clearly, the physical body of an Arahant does not disappear upon attaining the Arahant stage. Venerable Bahiya attained Arahantship upon hearing a couple of verses from the Buddha. His physical body remained intact!
- This is the “pañcupādānakkhandha kāya,” which arises in the mind and ceases to arise after the Arahant stage; at that time, the Paṭicca Samuppāda process also comes to an end.
- The five upādānakkhandhās stop arising at the Arahant phala moment, i.e., at the moment of attaining the Arahant stage of Nibbāna. Thus, the five upādānakkhandhās are called “nirodha dhamma” or “those entities that can be stopped from arising.”
What Are Nirodha Dhamma?
4. The “Nirodhadhamma Sutta (SN 23.22)” states that “rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhārā, and viññāṇa are “nirodha dhamma.” Again, refer to #2 above to ensure that these refer to the respective upādānakkhandhās.
- The English translation in the link translates the verse as “Rādha, form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are liable to cease.” The translation of “nirodha” as “liable to cease” is OK. But one must realize that the translation to form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness is incorrect; those are the respective upādānakkhandhās.
- “Liable to cease” means that these entities can be stopped from arising. In the previous post, we discussed “loka nirodha” and pointed out that one can only stop “one’s own future existence” in the world of 31 realms and that it does not mean stopping or destroying the external world or one’s physical body. That happens when one attains the Arahant stage. See “Sensory Inputs Initiate ‘Creation of the World’” or ‘Loka Samudaya.'”
- We also discussed that “loka samudaya” (or the creation/sustenance of “one’s existence”) is an ongoing process for anyone below the Arahant stage because loka samudaya continues with attachment to each sensory input. Here, “loka samudaya” happens (or at least is maintained) every time we attach to a sensory input and generate the five upādānakkhandhās.
5. Furthermore, sensory experience does not stop for an Arahant. They continue to experience external rupa and generate mental processes.
- That is why it is incorrect to translate vedanā, saññā, saṅkhārā, and viññāṇa in the “Nirodhadhamma Sutta (SN 23.22)” as form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. This is the danger of word-by-word translations that fail to grasp the meaning within the context.
- An Arahant who has achieved “loka nirodha” can still see external objects; they still experience vedanā associated with the physical body; they still perceive honey as sweet; they still generate vedanā and saññā (the pure form of saṅkhāra). However, they do not generate viññāṇa, even though they still have consciousness!
- Thus, it is critical to be able to grasp the meanings of words in the suttās in the broader context of the specific sutta. That should be clear by comparing the suttās discussed in #1 and #2 above.
Connection to Sakkāya Diṭṭhi
6. “Sakkāya Sutta (SN 22.105)” asks, “Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyo?” (What is sakkāya?). The answer is “Pañcupādānakkhandhātissa vacanīyaṁ” (“I say it is Pañcupādānakkhandhā“).
- The same answer is given in the “Sakkāyapañhā Sutta (SN 38.15)“: “Pañcime, āvuso, upādānakkhandhā sakkāyo vutto bhagavatā” or “āvuso, the Buddha said that pañcupādānakkhandhā are sakkāya.”
- Here, “sakkāya” is “sath kāya” or “beneficial kāya.” Furthermore, “sakkāya ditthi” is “to view (pañcupādānakkhandha)kāya as beneficial.”
- One will have sakkāya ditthi as long as they view sensory pleasures as beneficial. However, since a Sotapanna has not removed kāma rāga, they will still be attached to sensory pleasures; still, they would not do apāyagāmi deeds that lead to rebirths in the apāyās. That happens automatically, without conscious thinking, i.e., it is a dhammatā.
Pañcupādānakkhandha Kāya Is Sustained by Āhāra
7. The second “Kāya Sutta (SN 46.2)” (the first Kāya Sutta is discussed in #1 above regarding the physical body) explains what that second type of kāya is: “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, ayaṁ kāyo āhāraṭṭhitiko, āhāraṁ paṭicca tiṭṭhati, anāhāro no tiṭṭhati” OR “This kāya is sustained by āhāra (food for the mental body). It depends on āhāra to continue, and it can’t be sustained without āhāra.”
- Four types of āhāra are discussed in “Āhāra Sutta (SN 12.11):” phassa, manō sañcetanā, viññāṇa, and kabalinkā āhāra.
- None of those are āhāra for the physical body. They are āhāra for the mental body (manomaya kāya/gandhabba), which is sustained via repeated generation of pañcupādānakkhandha kāya (via attachment to sensory pleasures). As we have discussed, at a deeper level (per paramatta Dhamma of the Buddha), such sensory pleasures are “mind-made” (via “distorted saññā“): “Saññā – Hidden Aspect of Paṭicca Samuppāda.”
- The arising of pañcupādānakkhandha kāya with a sensory input is the same as the initiation of another Paṭicca Samuppāda cycle. When the ignorance (avijjā) about the true nature of the world of 31 realms is fully understood at the Arahant stage, the arising of the pañcupādānakkhandha kāya stops. When Ven. Bahiya attained Arahanthood by listening to a few verses of the Buddha, his physical body remained the same. But the arising of the pañcupādānakkhandha kāya (and the generation of Paṭicca Samuppāda cycles) stopped from that moment because āhāra for the mental body stopped.
- Āhāra is discussed in detail in “Āhāra – Food for the Mental Body.”
Rupa, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra, Viññāṇa – Refer to the “Upādānakkhandhā”
8. It is critical to understand that rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāna almost always refer to the respective upādānakkhandhās. As we know, numerous cittās flow through a mind within a split second upon receiving a sensory input; a single unit of rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, or viññāna can never be experienced; they ALWAYS come in aggregates or collections.
- Upon receiving a sensory input, the mind “expands”, with those upādānakkhandhās growing at a rapid rate. If the mind remains focused on that sensory input, it repeatedly attaches to it. That is what I tried to show in those charts with “two cones.” See #6 in “Purāna and Nava Kamma – Sequence of Kamma Generation.”
- The five upādānakkhandhās grow slowly in the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage, and the growth becomes rapid in the ‘nava kamma‘ stage when the mind starts consciously accumulating kamma.
- Also see “Rupa, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra, Viññāṇa – Mostly Misunderstood.”
- In old posts, I referred to viññāṇa in the ‘purāna kamma‘ stage as “vipāka viññāṇa” and that in the ‘nava kamma‘ stage as ‘kamma viññāṇa.’ It is the same viññāṇa that continues to grow stronger. Even the ‘vipāka viññāṇa‘ is defiled; see “Is Cakkhu Viññāṇa Free of Defilements?” In that post, we discussed a “seeing event” as the sensory input.
9. I also want to emphasize that “rupa” in the context of the five aggregates (pañca upādānakkhandha) is rupa upādānakkhandha that arises in the mind. That holds in most of the suttās; the suttās rarely discuss external objects.
- Furthermore, vedanā (or vedanā upādānakkhandha) refers to “mind-made” ones and not vedanā felt by the physical body (which also arises in Arahants).
- An Arahant would not generate viññāṇa at any time. The word “viññāṇa” means “absence of ñāṇa“ or “absence of wisdom about the true nature of the world.” Specifically, it refers to the absence of knowledge about how the “distorted saññā” triggers the accumulation of kamma; once one comprehends that, one becomes a “sandiṭṭhiko” or a Sotapanna. However, “san generation” completely stops only at the Arahant stage; see “Sandiṭṭhiko – What Does It Mean?“
- If an Arahant does not generate viññāṇa, how would they experience the sensory inputs? The seeing (or eye consciousness) by an Arahant is expressed as “diṭṭhe diṭṭhamattaṁ bhavissati” or “seeing without the arising of any defilements (even though the sight has embedded distorted saññā).” For example, an Arahant would also see a beautiful woman as such; however, since an Arahant fully comprehends that “the beauty of the woman” is a false/distorted saññā generated by the mind, their minds would not attach to that sight.
Nibbāna Attained by Understanding the Pañcupādānakkhandha Kāya
10. One cannot attain Nibbāna (and stop future suffering) by investigating the physical body. Modern medical science serves the mundane purpose of maintaining one’s physical health. Researchers in that field have studied the physical body in great detail, but have no idea how to prevent future suffering; the medical field can only help alleviate the suffering associated with the physical body.
- On the other hand, Buddha’s teachings are not focused on maintaining a healthy physical body. They are focused on stopping unimaginable future suffering associated with the rebirth process. Here, Kāyānupassanā in Satipaṭṭhānāna plays a key role. That Kāyānupassanā is about the pañcupādānakkhandha kāya.
- Nibbāna is reached as soon as the possibility of any defiled thoughts arising is stopped. At the moment of reaching the Arahant phala moment, pañcupādānakkhandha stops arising, and the operation of Paṭicca Samuppāda stops too.
- Contrary to the prevalent idea that Nibbāna is attained after the death of the physical body of an Arahant, it is attained at the moment of reaching the Arahant phala moment. Any suffering experienced until the death of the physical body is associated with that physical body, not the mind; those are vipāka associated with the physical body, and they will persist until the physical body dies.
