[159] And why, bhikkhus, do you call it form (rūpa)? "It is deformed (ruppati)," bhikkhus; therefore it is called form. Deformed by what? It is deformed by cold, deformed by heat, deformed by hunger, deformed by thirst, deformed by contact with flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and creeping things. "It is deformed," bhikkhus; therefore it is called form.
And why, bhikkhus, do you call it feeling (vedanā)? "It feels," bhikkhus; therefore it is called feeling. And what does it feel? It feels pleasure, it feels pain, it feels what is neither-painful-nor-pleasant. "It feels," bhikkhus; therefore it is called feeling.
And why, bhikkhus, do you call it perception (saññā)? "It perceives," bhikkhus; therefore it is called perception. And what does it perceive? It perceives blue, it perceives yellow, it perceives red, it perceives white. "It perceives," bhikkhus; therefore it is called perception.
And why, bhikkhus, do you call them volitional formations (saṅkhārā)? "They construct the conditioned (saṅkhata)," bhikkhus; therefore they are called volitional formations. And what conditioned do they construct? They construct conditioned form as form; they construct conditioned feeling as feeling; they construct conditioned perception as perception; they construct conditioned volitional formations as volitional formations; they construct conditioned consciousness as consciousness. "They construct the conditioned," bhikkhus; therefore they are called volitional formations.
And why, bhikkhus, do you call it consciousness (viññāṇa)? "It cognizes," bhikkhus; therefore it is called consciousness. And what does it cognize? It cognizes the sour, it cognizes the bitter, it cognizes the pungent, it cognizes the sweet, it cognizes the alkaline, it cognizes the non-alkaline, it cognizes the salty, it cognizes the unsalty. "It cognizes," bhikkhus; therefore it is called consciousness.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.