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Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names • G.P. Malalasekera


Page last updated on 8 October, 2020

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Vāsava

A name of Sakka. S.i.221, 223, 229‑30, 234‑7; D.ii.260, 274; SN.vs.384; DhA.iii.270; J.i.65, etc; Cv.xxxvii.151, etc.

Several explanations are given of the title. In the Saṃyuttanikāya (S.i.229; cp. DhA.i.264) it is said that when he was a human being, in his previous birth, he gave dwelling places (āvasathaṃ adāsi) — hence the name.

According to the Dīghanikāya (D.ii.260), however, he is Vāsava because he is chief of the Vasū (Vasūnaṃ settho), whom Buddhaghosa (DA.ii.690) calls Vasudevatā.