Dear Bhante,

The word denotes any given substance like in Sanskrit. I have hardly ever
come across it except in grammatical literature. So far I have not seen the
word in the context of sabhaava "essential nature." I may be wrong, though.
I would appreciate references. In early sources is it a gotta name: dabba
mallaputta, if I remember correctly.

Regards,
Ole Holten Pind


Hi all,

Here's a snippet of an old conversation between myself and Nina:

> It
> > > seems clear enough that the Sarvastivadins went further than the
> > > Theravadins; they frequently used the word 'dravya'
> (Pali 'dabba'?),
> > > meaning 'substance' in reference to the svabhava, while i am not
> > > aware of that term in the Theravada.
> > N: I meet this term all the time in the Visuddhimagga. I do not
> see any
> > substance implied, it is just a distinctive nature, but only very
> momentary.
> > Close to the meaning of characteristic.

I have just been discussing this point with Rupert Gethin, who
believes that the term 'dabba', while occuring occasionally in
non-technical senses, does not occur with as a technical term in the
Theravadin abhidhamma. Can Nina or anyone else point me to any
technical uses of 'dabba' in Theravada abhidhamma?

in Dhamma

Bhante Sujato






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