no. 9
The Saddaniti explains dhamma as pu~n~na, virtue:

<"Dhammo have rakkhati dhammacaarin"ti evamaadiisu pu~n~ne.
In a passage such as ³The dhamma truly protects the person who practises
it², dhamma refers to virtue.>
The Commentary to the ³Muulapariyaayasutta² explains: ³Dhamma
well-practised issues in bliss² (Sn.v. 184), dhamma means merit (or kusala),
gu.na.
The Saddaniti explains dhamma as disciplinary offense in a similar way as
above:

<"Cattaaro paaraajikaa dhammaa"ti-aadiisu aapattiya.m.
In passages such as ³four disciplinary offenses involving defeat
(paaraajika)², dhamma means disciplinary offense. >

The Saddaniti explains dhamma as knowable (neyya):

<"Kusalaa dhammaa"ti-aadiisu ~neyye.
In a passage as ³wholesome dhammas etc.² the word dhamma means what is
knowable, what is to be known.>

N: Neyya: gerund of neti: to lead, guide, understand. neyya: to be
instructed, understood.

The Saddaniti, as we have seen above, defines dhamma as sabhaava in a
similar way:
<Aya~nhi "kusalaa dhammaa akusalaa dhammaa abyaakataa dhammaa"ti-aadiisu
sabhaave dissati.
In the passage ³wholesome dhammas, unwholesome dhammas and indeterminate
dhammas², dhamma means: with its own specific nature (or characteristic). >

N: Thus, all that is real, inside or outside, is classified as these three
dhammas: kusalaa dhammaa, akusalaa dhammaa, abyaakataa dhammaa. They are
sabhaava, they each have their own specific nature (or characteristic), and
these characteristics are unalterable. Kusala is always kusala, akusala is
always akusala. They are not abstractions: when their specific
characteristics appear, they are are to be understood, neyya. Their true
nature can be known.

The Commentary to the ³Muulapariyaayasutta² explains dhamma as neyya: <And
in the passage: ³All dhammas in all their modes enter the threshold of the
Exalted One¹s portal of knowledge,² it is the knowable. Here the word occurs
in the sense of things endowed with a specific nature (sabhaava). This is
the word-meaning: ³They bear their own characteristics, thus they are
dhammas² (attano lakkha.na.m dhaarentii ti dhammaa).>
The word dhamma is associated with dhaareti: to bear.
*****
Nina.