Dhātu

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Key Term	dhātu
In Tibetan Script	ཁམས་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	khams
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	धातु
Romanized Sanskrit	dhātu
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	Kham
Chinese Script	界
Chinese Pinyin	jiè
English Standard	element
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	basic element
Richard Barron's English Term	realm; constitutent element; fundamental nature
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	essential consistuent
Ives Waldo's English Term	region; realm; element; nature; cause and seed
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Element
Did you know?	In the Ratnagotravibhāga, dhātu is synonymous with gotra, the final element that enables all beings to become buddhas. (Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p 254)
Related Terms	Gotra; Buddha-dhātu
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	See page 254: In Sanskrit and Pāli, “element”; a polysemous term with wide application in Buddhist contexts. In epistemology, the dhātus refer to the eighteen elements through which sensory experience is produced: the six sense bases, or sense organs (indriya; viz., eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind); the six corresponding sense objects (ālambana; viz., forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and mental phenomena); and the six sensory consciousnesses that result from contact (sparśa) between the corresponding base and object (vijñāna; viz., visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental consciousnesses). As this list makes clear, the eighteen dhātus also subsume the twelve āyatana (sense-fields). The dhātus represent one of the three major taxonomies of dharmas found in the sūtras (along with skanda and āyatana), and represent a more primitive stage of dharma classification than the elaborate analyses found in much of the mature abhidharma literature (but cf. Dharmaskandha). In a physical sense, dhātu is used to refer to the constituent elements of the physical world, of which four are usually recognized in Buddhist materials: earth, water, fire, and wind. Sometimes two additional constituents are added to the list: space (ākāśa) and consciousness (vijñāna). In the Ratnagotravibhāga, dhātu is synonymous with gotra, the final element that enables all beings to become buddhas.

A fundamental component or essential constituent.

A fundamental component or essential constituent.

A seed, commonly used figuratively in the sense of something which has the potential to develop or grow, and likewise as the basic cause for this development or growth.

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

Abhidharma generally refers to the corpus of Buddhist texts which deals with the typological, phenomenological, metaphysical, and epistemological presentation of Buddhist concepts and teachings. The abhidharma teachings present a meta-knowledge of Buddhist sūtras through analytical and systemic schemas and are said to focus on developing wisdom among the three principles of training. The Abhidharma is presented alongside Sūtra and Vinaya as one of the three baskets of the teachings of the Buddha.