saṃ√kḷp

The verb sam√kḷp is fairly rare in our corpus, with only four occurances. In all the cases attested in our sources, it denotes the process of mental production, be it the production of thoughts, mental images or emotions. Thus, while sam√kḷp encompasses both the semantic field of imagination (02.01.07.05) and that of creation (01.11.02), in our corpus the latter sense is circumscribed to the sphere of the mind and the inner world.

imagine02.01.07.0502.01.07.0502.01.13.0402.01.13.0402.01.13.0502.05.04.01picture02.01.07.0502.07.03.03.01|0203.09.03.01think02.01.06.03.0102.01.06.03.0102.01.07.0402.01.07.04|0202.01.07.0502.01.1102.01.13.0302.01.13.0302.01.13.0402.02.01.02|0102.02.07.0302.05.0402.05.04|01to produce a thought, mental image or emotions 01.11.02, 131: \npunar aparaṃ bodhisattvaḥ adhyātmyaṃ rahogataḥ śuddhenāśayena ghanarasena prasādaṃ saṃkalpya vicitrān udārān aprameyāṃ deyadharmān adhimucyādhimucya sattveṣu dānāya pratipānanāyābhilaṣati yena bodhisattvaḥ alpakṛcchreṇāprameyaṃ puṇyaṃ prasūyate / idamapi bodhisattvasya prājñadānaṃ veditavyam /\nThen again, the bodhisatva, alone in a lonely place, after generating devote serenity through the balm of pure intentions, after having repeatedly applied himself to [giving] various lofty innumerable meritorious gifts, desires to give gifts to sentient beings. This should be known to be the gift of wisdom. 02.01.07.05|05, 37:\nsā strīsvabhāvena vicintya tat tad dṛṣṭānurāge 'bhimukhe 'pi patyau /\ndharmāśrite tattvam avindamānā saṃkalpya tat tad vilalāpa tat tat // Saund_6.12 //Following her feminine nature, she imagined various things, unaware (avindamānā) of the reality about her husband, who, while still manifestly affectionate and devoted, had turned to the Dharma. Picturing this or that [scenario], she wailed.02.01.07.05|0502.01.06, 43:\npuṣpāvanaddhe tilakadrumasya dṛṣṭvānyapuṣṭāṃ śikhare niviṣṭām /\nsaṃkalpayām āsa śikhāṃ priyāyāḥ śuklāṃśuke 'ṭṭālam apāsritāyāḥ // Saund_7.7 //01.11.0202.01.0602.01.07.05|05,\n113:  "na te kāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgaḥ puruṣasya kāmaḥ /\n     tiṣṭhanti citrāṇi tathaiva loke athātra dhīrā vinayanti kāmamiti //\ngāthābhidhānān / ājīvaka āryaśāriputraṃ pratyāha\n "na te kāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgaṃ vadasīha kāmam /\n    bhikṣur bhaviṣyaty api kāmabhogī saṃkalpayan so 'kuśalān vitarkān" /\nāryaśāriputra āha\n    te cetkāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgo yadi te na kāmaḥ /\n    śāstā 'pi te bhavitā kāmabhogī dṛṣṭvaiva rūpāṇi manoramāṇi"//saṃkalpa01.11.0202.01.06 02.01.07.05|05 , 113: "na te kāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgaḥ puruṣasya kāmaḥ /\n     tiṣṭhanti citrāṇi tathaiva loke athātra dhīrā vinayanti kāmamiti //\ngāthābhidhānān / ājīvaka āryaśāriputraṃ pratyāha\n "na te kāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgaṃ vadasīha kāmam /\n    bhikṣur bhaviṣyaty api kāmabhogī saṃkalpayan so 'kuśalān vitarkān" /\nāryaśāriputra āha\n    te cetkāmā yāni citrāṇi loke saṃkalparāgo yadi te na kāmaḥ /\n    śāstā 'pi te bhavitā kāmabhogī dṛṣṭvaiva rūpāṇi manoramāṇi"//[Śāriputra said] “objects of desire (kāma) are not the various things in the world; man’s desire is passion arising from thought. While there are various objects in the world, wise people get rid of desire for them (atra).” The Ajīvika retorted: “you say that objects of desire (kāma) are not the various things in the world and desire is passion arising from thought; will a monk indulge in desire if he generates/pictures unwholesome thoughts [in his mind]?” Śāriputra said: “if objects of desire (kāma) are the various things in the world and the passion arising from thought is not desire, then even the teacher must have indulged in desire as he surely saw pleasant objects.”vi√cint02.01.07.05|05 02.01.06, 37:\nsā strīsvabhāvena vicintya tat tad dṛṣṭānurāge 'bhimukhe 'pi patyau /\ndharmāśrite tattvam avindamānā saṃkalpya tat tad vilalāpa tat tat // Saund_6.12 //\nFollowing her feminine nature, she imagined various things, unaware (avindamānā) of the reality about her husband, who, while still manifestly affectionate and devoted, had turned to the Dharma. Picturing this or that [scenario], she wailed.

Saṃ√kḷp derives from the root √kḷp with the addition of the prefix sam. For a discussion of √kḷp see etymology sub voce vikalpa. Suffice it to say that saṃ√kḷp is likely to be linked to √kḷp in the sense of shaping and creating, perhaps, as the Pali dictionary suggests, in the specialised figurative sense of forming in the mind and hence thinking (Pali Dictionary, Chipstead: 1921, s.v. kappeti).