Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c34.s6.9

v2.c34.s6.9

In the discussion relating to the six āyatanas (spheres of the organs of sense), the *Kvu.* shows that the Andhakas took literally the expression: *rūpī manomayo sabbaṅgapaccaṅgī ahinindriyo ti* and assert that there are in the rūpadhātu all the six indriyas and āyatanas with this difference from the Kāmadhātu, that out of the six āyatanas three, viz., ghāna, rasa and phoṭṭhabba do not exist but their *nimittas*, i.e., the subtlest forms exist.¹ In the Abhidhamma texts it is stated that the denizens of the Rūpadhātu have five khandhas and six (and not twelve) āyatanas, while those in the Arūpadhātu have four khandhas and two āyatanas (manāyatana and dhammāyatana only).²