Vāsava untranslated

Vāsava. A name of Sakka. SN.i.221, 223, 229-30, 234-7; DN.ii.260, 274; Snp.vs.384; Dhp­a.iii.270; Ja.i.65, etc.; Cv.xxxvii.151, etc.

Several explanations are given of the title. In the Saṁyuttanikāya (SN.i.229; cp. Dhp­a.i.264) it is said that when he was a human being, in his previous birth, he gave dwelling places (āvasathaṁ adāsi) – hence the name.

According to the Dīghanikāya (DN.ii.260), however, he is Vāsava because he is chief of the Vasū (Vasūnaṃ seṭṭho), whom Buddhaghosa (DN­a.ii.690) calls Vasudevatā.