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The corpus record — Pali

vatthuṁ

Vatthu

neuter lit. “ground,” hence (lit.) object, real thing, property, thing, substance (cp. vatthu 2 !) AN.ii.209 (khetta˚, where khetta in lit. sense, cp. No. 2). Here belongs the def n of kāma as twofold: vatthu-kāma and kilesa-kāma , or desire for realities, objective kāma, and desire as property of s

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Where it lives

  • Udana 2 · 1/10k
  • Sutta Nipata 1 · 0.5/10k
  • Digha Nikaya 3 · 0.21/10k

What it meant — PTS Pali–English Dictionary

neuter lit. “ground,” hence

  1. (lit.) object, real thing, property, thing, substance (cp. vatthu2!) AN.ii.209 (khetta˚, where khetta in lit. sense, cp. No. 2). Here belongs the defn of kāma as twofold: vatthu-kāma and kilesa-kāma, or desire for realities, objective kāma, and desire as property of stained character, i.e. subjective kāma, e.g. Mnd.1; Snp-a.99, Snp-a.112; Dhs-a.62
    ■ On vatthu as general philosophical term cp. Dhs. translation §§ 455, 679, 1229, also introd. p. 86 Cpd. 15, 31, 1741.
  2. (applied meaning) object, item Vin.i.121 (antima-vatthuṃ ajjhāpannaka guilty of an extreme offence?); Vin.v.138 (the 10 āghāta-vatthūni, as at Vb.86); DN.iii.252 (seven niddesa˚), DN.iii.255 (eight kusīta˚), DN.iii.258 (eight dāna˚); SN.ii.41, SN.ii.56 sq.; Vb.71 (cakkhu˚ etc.), Vb.306 sq., Vb.353; Ne.114 (ten); Snp-a.172; Dhp-a.iv.2 (akkosa˚); Pv-a.8, Pv-a.20 (dāna˚), Pv-a.26 (left out in id. p. Kp-a.209), Pv-a.29, Pv-a.65 (alabbhaneyya˚), Pv-a.96 (id.), Pv-a.119, Pv-a.121 (iṭṭha˚), Pv-a.177, Pv-a.220. Cp. ˚bhūta.
  3. occasion for, reason, ground AN.ii.158 (+ khetta [in fig. sense!], āyatana & adhikaraṇa); AN.iv.334; DN.i.13 sq. (aṭṭhādasahi vatthūhi etc.) Ja.ii.5 (avatthumhi chandaṃ mâkari do not set your heart on what is unreasonable); vatthunā (instr.) because Pv-a.118; vatthuto (abl.) on account of Pv-a.241.
  4. basis, foundation, seat, (objective) substratum, substance, element Ja.i.146 (kāyo paridevānaṃ v.); Vb-a.404 (+ ārammaṇa). See most of the compounds
  5. subject-matter, subject, story, account Snp-a.4; Dhp-a.ii.66; Pv-a.77, Pv-a.92, Pv-a.263, Pv-a.269. Cp. ˚gāthā & titles like Petavatthu, Vimānavatthu.

-kata made a foundation or basis of, practised thoroughly Ja.ii.61; Ja.v.14 and passim (+ bhāvita etc.). In phrase tālāvatthukata (= tāla avatthu kata) vatthu means foundation, basis, ground to feed and live on, thus “a palm deprived of its foundation”: see refs. under tāla
■ gāthā the stanzas of the story, the introductory (explanatory, essential to its understanding) stanzas something like “prologue” Snp-a.483, Snp-a.575 (preceding Snp.699 & Snp.976); -dasaka tenfold substance or material basis Vb-a.22. -bhūta

In the wild

Pali text and translations from SuttaCentral (Bilara), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). PTS Pali–English Dictionary entries, public domain.