dhātuḥ

element, primitive matter (= mahābhūta, L. ), MBh. ; Hariv. &c. (usually reckoned as 5, viz. kha or ākāśa, anila, tejas, jala, bhū; to which is added brahma, Yājñ. iii, 145 ; or vijñāna, Buddh. )

a constituent element or essential ingredient of the body (distinct from the 5 mentioned above and conceived either as 3 humours [called also doṣa] phlegm, wind and bile, BhP. [ cf. purīṣa, māṃsa, manas, ChUp. vi, 5, 1 ]; or as the 5 organs of sense, indriyāṇi [ cf. s.v. and MBh. xii, 6842 , where śrotra, ghrāṇa, āsya, hṛdaya and koṣṭha are mentioned as the 5 dh˚ of the human body born from the either] and the 5 properties of the elements perceived by them, gandha, rasa, rūpa, sparśa and śabda, L. ; or the 7 fluids or secretions, chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, semen, Suśr. [ L. rasA di or rasa-raktA di , of which sometimes 10 are given, the above 7 and hair, skin, sinews, BhP. ])

primary element of the earth i.e. metal, mineral, ore ( esp. a mineral of a red colour), Mn. ; MBh. &c. element of words i.e. grammatical or verbal root or stem, Nir. ; Prāt. ; MBh. &c. (with the southern Buddhists dhātu means either the 6 elements [see above] Dharmas. xxv ; or the 18 elementary spheres [dhātuloka] ib. lviii ; or the ashes of the body, relics, L. [ cf. garbha]).