sattvAvAsa
sattvāvāsa , m. (= Pali sattāvāsa), abode of beings . Nine such are listed Mvy 2288—97 and in Pali DN iii.263.9 ff. ; in both lists an example only (not an exhaustive enumeration) is cited under each ‘abode’. The first includes all men and lower beings, and the kāmāvacara gods; the 2d, 3d, and 4th are the gods of the 1st, 2d, and 3d dhyānabhūmi (of the rūpāvacara gods); then in Mvy come as Nos. 5—8 incl. the 4 classes of arūpāvacara gods, and finally as an example of No. 9 the asaṃjñisattva ( q.v. ) gods; but this arrangement is certainly erroneous; DN iii.263.19 correctly puts the asaññasatta gods (who belong to the 4th dhyānabhūmi of rūpāvacara) in the 5th satt(v)āvāsa (the śuddhāvāsakāyika doubtless belong here too), while the four arūpāvacara classes constitute the 6th to 9th incl. In Mvy the first four are characterized respectively as nānātvakāyā nānātvasaṃjñinaḥ, nānātvakāyā ekatvasaṃjñinaḥ, ekatvakāyā nānātvasaṃjñinaḥ, ekatvakāyā ekatvasaṃjñinaḥ. Cf. AbhidhK. LaV-P. iii.22, n. 4 .