lokaDAtu · feminine
world system
lokadhātu , m. and f. (= Pali id. , only f. acc. to Childers ; see s.v. dhātu , 5), world-region, world-system, world ; extremely common everywhere: three sorts, sāhasracūḍika, dvisāhasra, trisāhasramahāsāhasra ( qq.v. ; under the last, many examples showing both genders for lokadhātu are cited) Mvy 3041—4 ; other Mvy cases (all m. when unambiguous), 226, 361, 816, 860, 3046, 3060, 3063, 3070 ; besides the forms with trisāhasramahāsāhasra, both m. and f. forms occur, the mss. frequently varying; in SP 40.16 KN with 3 mss. m. , 3 others f. , ed. note says f. ‘seems preferable, dhātu being usually of fem. gender in SP ’, but this is hardly borne out by the evidence of this edition; e.g. it is clearly m. in 156.7 (prose, no v.l. ); 157.1 (one ms. f. ); 306.10 ; in 41.10 and 42.1 (parallel 40.16 above) ed. with all mss. but one masc. ; in 121.11 ff. ed. prints fem. forms, but Kashgar rec. masc. , usually with some Nep. mss.
the world system
(fem, fem, abstr, comp) world system; world sphere world system Construction: loka + dhātu