Dhatukaya ( sa, धातुकाय,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Dhātukāya) or Dhatukaya-sastra () is one of the seven Sarvastivada Abhidharma

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

scriptures. ''Dhatukaya'' means "group of elements". It was written by

Purna : Purna is a town with a municipal council in Parbhani district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Geography Purna is located at . It has an average elevation of . Purna is situated in the Maharashtra state of India. Demographics India cens ...

(according to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an sources), or

Vasumitra Vasumitra (or Sumitra, according to the ''d'' manuscript of the ''Matsya Purana'') (; died 124 BCE), was the fourth ruler of the Shunga Empire of North India. He was the son of Agnimitra by his queen Dharini and brother or half-brother of Vasujye ...

(according to

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

sources; five people named Vasumitra were known to the Chinese sources, but it is not clear which one of these authored ''Dhatukaya''). It was translated into Chinese translated by

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

: T26, No. 1540, 阿毘達磨界身足論, 尊者世友造, 三藏法師玄奘奉　詔譯, in a short 3 fascicles. This comparatively short text bears similarities with the

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

Sthaviravada text, the Dhatu-katha, in style and format, though it uses a different matrka. It also bears a close connection with the Prakaranapada, through several items common to both. In its sevenfold division of

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

s in particular, it does provide, a closer look at the various divisions of dharmas, in particular citta and caitasika, with its conjoined and non-conjoined aspects. As it is not mentioned in the Mahavibhasa, this also suggests it is either a later text, or originally a fragment removed from an earlier text.Venerable Yinshun: Study of the Abhidharma, Texts and Commentators of the

Sarvastivada The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...

, (說一切有部為主的論書與論師之研究), Zhengwen Publishing, 1968. pg. 162

References

{{Buddhism topics Abhidharma