The Vibhaṅga treats the five khandhas almost like a multi-faceted gem, examining each “aggregate” from several complementary angles.

1. Suttantavibhāṅga (Sutta-Based Analysis)
   • Definition (attha): What exactly each khandha is—form as materiality, feeling as hedonic tone, perception as recognition, mental formations as volitional forces, consciousness as awareness.
   • Function (rasa): The role it plays—form provides support, feeling colours experience, perception labels, formations drive action, consciousness knits the others together.
   • Manifestation (paccupaṭṭhāna): How it shows up—form in sights and sounds, feeling as pleasant or painful tingles, perception in “that’s a tree,” formations in habits and intentions, consciousness as the knowing “I see.”
   • Proximate Cause (anantara-paccaya): What immediately gives rise to it—sixfold contact for form, contact and consciousness for the others.

2. Abhidhammavibhāṅga (Abhidhamma-Based Analysis)
   Here each aggregate gets unpacked into its constituent dhammas. Feeling, for instance, splits into three types (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral), while formations are detailed into fifty-two mental factors (like contact, effort, mindfulness). Consciousness is broken into eighty-nine or more cittas, showing how rapidly the mind shifts. It’s akin to a neuroscientist charting every synapse and neurotransmitter in a brain scan.

3. Paṭisaṃbhidā-vibhāṅga (Analytical Insight)
   This section highlights the penetrative knowledges (paṭisaṃbhidā-ñāṇa) that mastery of the aggregates brings—skills in discerning truth, in marveling at phenomena, in seeing cause and effect. It’s as if each aggregate becomes a lens sharpening the vision of liberation.

Beyond these three, the Vibhaṅga cross-references aggregates against other matrices—eighteen elements, twelve sense spheres, faculties, kamma ripening factors—so that form, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness are never static blocks but ever-shifting processes in a vast web of cause and condition.

In today’s world, this feels strikingly modern—much like data scientists parsing big data streams into categories, functions and outcomes. Yet the ancient text doesn’t stop at theory; it hands over tools for experiential insight. Each aggregate is a doorway to deeper understanding, reminding that what looks like a simple “self” is really a kaleidoscope of interrelated events.