Dhatukaya or Dhatukaya-sastra is one of the seven Sarvastivada Abhidharma Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 scriptures.

Dhatukaya means "group of elements". It was written by Purna

Purna

Purna is a town with a municipal council in Parbhani district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:Purna is located at . It has an average elevation of 386 metres ....

 (according to Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 and Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an sources), or Vasumitra

Vasumitra

Vasumitra , was the fourth King of the Sunga Dynasty of Northern India...

 (according to Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 sources). It was translated into Chinese translated by Xuanzang

Xuanzang

Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...

: T26, No. 1540, 阿毘達磨界身足論, 尊者世友造, 三藏法師玄奘奉　詔譯, in a short 3 fascicles.

This comparatively short text bears similarities with the Pāli

Páli

- External links :* *...

 Sthaviravada

Sthaviravada

Sthaviravāda literally "Teaching Of The Elders", was one of the early Buddhist schools. It was one of the two main movements in early Buddhism that arose from the Great Schism in pre-sectarian Buddhism, the other being that of the Mahāsāṃghika school....

 text, the Dhatu-katha, in style and format, though it uses a different matrka

Matrka

' is a publishing company that was founded in 2007. It aims to celebrate and showcase the richness of Indian art and culture. Its activities range from publishing music related material to organizing music performances....

. It also bears a close connection with the Prakaranapada, through several items common to both. In its sevenfold division of dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

s in particular, it does provide, a closer look at the various divisions of dharmas, in particular citta and caitasika, with its conjoined and non-conjoined aspects. As it is not mentioned in the Mahavibhasa

Mahavibhasa

The Abhidharma ' Śāstra is an ancient Buddhist text. It is thought to have been authored around 150 CE.-The Compendia: is a term meaning 'compendium', 'treatise' or simply 'explanation', derived from vi + , 'to speak' or 'to explain'...

, this also suggests it is either a later text, or originally a fragment removed from an earlier text.