In the Therigatha I come upon several instances of the word tamokkhanda, which seems to be fairly rare. Is there an online tool that will give me a concordance of its appearances? Norman translates it as “the mass of darkness (of ignorance).” I’m wondering how far I can fairly see traces of the Sanskrit tamas and skandha in its meaning?
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It is an exact cognate of the ṣaṣṭhītatpuruṣa compound tamaḥskandha and means the same.
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I’ve come across the same question in my translations. 
Thig/Thag being doctrinally light texts, with Tamokhanda appearing mostly there with some other verses in other Nikayas, without a deeper elaboration, I’m inclined to read it as a poetic expression, rather than a crucial piece of theory.
A common trope is the mendicant remembering past lives in the first watch of night, mind reading in second watch, and destroying “tamokhandas” in the third watch, moving on to a presumed sunrise. (Though, not exclusively)
To me, that’s quite an obviously poetic description, matching the dissolution of darkness with the sunrise / awakening.
Tamas is obviously a charged term in Brahmanism, referring to the one of the three qualities of beings, our dark side. Khandas is obviously usually aggregates in the Nikayas.
Destruction of tamas could be likened to the destruction of asavas, the tendencies (or defilements) that bind us to Samsara.
In fact, Sn 5.3 talks about them side by side:
Relishing is banished in every respect,
Sabbattha vihatā nandī,
and the mass of darkness is shattered.
tamokkhandho padālito;
I’ve defeated the army of death,
Jetvāna maccuno senaṁ,
and live without defilements.”
viharāmi anāsavā”ti.
Likewise, an arahat stops associating with the khandas.
So, to me, these terms are not so out of place here.
I don’t know what the intended meaning might’ve been. But to me, these are related concepts, in line with the phrasing and placement in the verses, and they’re not terms usually found in the suttas (in this specific compound), so I just hear them as destruction of asavas and khandas expressed in a gentle double entendre — and I haven’t read anything to substantially challenge these ideas.
So, much ado about nothing and take it with a grain of salt, but that’s been my research.
Thank you both! I have both the minimalist view, which Norman clearly favors
and a maximalist view, which takes account of the poetic resonance of the term,
You have both set upright what had been overturned and carried a lamp to light my way.
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