kAmaguRa
kāma-guṇa , m. pl. (= Pali id. , defined as the objects of the five senses , e.g. AN iii.411.4 ff. ), qualities of desire , regularly five in number, in some passages clearly understood as the objects of the five senses as in Pali ; so Mv iii.417.2 pañca kāmaguṇe ( n. pl. ; read °ṇā?) loke manaḥṣaṣṭhā praveditā (so read with mss. ), tatra me vigato chando …; SP 79.8 (mā … 'bhiramadhvaṃ hīneṣu) rūpaśabda-gandha-rasa-sparśeṣu; atra hi yūyaṃ traidhātuke 'bhiratāḥ pañca-kāmaguṇa-sahagatayā tṛṣṇayā dahyatha; yet in Mv ii.116.17 pañca kāmaguṇāṃ ( acc. pl. ), specifically listed as nāṭyaṃ gītaṃ vāditaṃ tūryaṃ striyo; the fact seems to be that the phrase became a stock formula or cliché, often used without definite association with any list; so Mvy 5378, 7373 mentions the 5 kāmaguṇa, but never lists them (in 871 even the number 5 is lacking). The old tradition that they are the objects of the 5 senses never died out, however; see LaVallée-Poussin, AbhidhK. iii.86 note 2 . With the number 5 they are mentioned SP 78.12 ; 111.6 ; 213.6 ; LV 186.19 ; 215.3 ; Mv i.31.5 ; ii.170.13 , etc. ; without the number e.g. LV 45.4 ; 173.19 and 22 (cited Śikṣ 204.7 and 10 ); Mv ii.142.5, 12 .