kāmadhātu

84000 Standard Definition

In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods‍—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (cāturmahā­rājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).

Glossary Entries

Search through all glossary entries for this authority across different works

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Name Variants
15 names
Tibetan
འདོད་པའི་སྲིད་པ,འདོད་ཁམས,འདོད་པའི་ཁམས,དོད་པ་ན་སྤྱོད་པ
’dod pa’i srid pa,’dod khams,’dod pa’i khams,dod pa na spyod pa
Sanskrit
kāma­dhātu,kāmaloka,kāmadhātu,kamadhātu,kāmabhava
English
realm of desire,desire,existence with desire,desire realm, desire-realm,world system of desire,desire realm