• 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 Samyutta Nikāya (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 (āvasatham adāsi) - hence the name.

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