[Zapper]

Hello people.
As far as my understanding goes, Dhammā is a Mano sense object and Dhamma is the teaching of the Buddha.
But I am getting a little confused when I read some suttas.

 

In Mahasatipatthana Sutta – The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Awareness when the Buddha talks about the sense objects, both Dhamma and Dhammā are used.

Here is Dhammā:

Dhammā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati.

And here is Dhamma:

Dhammasaññā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati.

Dhammasañcetanā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati.

 

Also in the Vb 6: Paṭiccasamuppādavibhaṅga—Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500 the mental object is mentioned as Dhamma:

Tattha katamā vedanāpaccayā taṇhā? Rūpataṇhā, saddataṇhā, gandhataṇhā, rasataṇhā, phoṭṭhabbataṇhā, dhammataṇhā—ayaṁ vuccati “vedanāpaccayā taṇhā”.

 

I would assume it’s with short a because the words are concatenated, but I am not sure.

So my question is: Why are both words used?

[Lal]

Yes. Both “Dhammā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati” AND “Dhammasaññā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati” refer to Dhammā (and not the teachings).

• Even the same words can be used to refer to different concepts. In the above case, it happens because it would not rhyme well if the second verse is written as “Dhammāsaññā loke piyarūpaṃ sātarūpaṃ, etthesā taṇhā uppajjamānā uppajjati, ettha nivisamānā nivisati.“
• However, once we understand the relevant concepts, we should be able to determine which meaning to use. A good example is “Kāya” discussed in the current post “Kāya Can be Pañcupādānakkhandha or Physical Body.”

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