”abodes of beings”. In the sutta-texts (e.g. D. 33; A.IX, 24) 9 such abodes are mentioned:
"There are, o monks, 9 abodes of beings, namely:
(1) "There are beings who are different in body and different in perception, such as the human beings, some heavenly beings, and some beings living in the world of suffering (vinipa^tika, q.v.).
(2) ””There are beings who are different in body but equal in perception, such as the first-born gods of the Brahma-world (i.e. at the beginning of each new world-formation; s. deva II).
(3) ””There are beings who are equal in body but different in perception, such as the Radiant Gods (a^bhassara, s. deva II).
(4) "There are beings who are equal in body and equal in perception, such as the All-Illuminating Gods (subha-kinha; s. deva II).
(5) "There are beings without perception and feeling, such as the unconscious beings (asan~n~a-satta, q.v.).
(6) "There are beings who, through the complete overcoming of perceptions of matter (rúpa-san~n~a), the disappearance of perceptions of sense-reaction (patigha-san~n~a), and the non-attention to perceptions of variety thinking: ”Boundless is space”, are reborn in the sphere of buundless space (s. deva, III; jha^na, 5).
(7) "There are beings who, through the complete overcoming of the sphere of boundless space, thinking: ”Boundless is consciousness”, are reborn in the sphere of boundless consciousness (s. jha^na 6).
(8) "There are beings who, through the complete overcoming of the sphere of boundless consciousness, thinking: ”Nothing is there, are reborn in the sphere of nothingness (s. jha^na, 7).
(9) "There are beings who, through the complete overcoming of the sphere of nothingness, are reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception (s. jha^na, 8)" (A. IX, 24).
According to the Com. to A., the beings of the Pure Abodes (suddha^va^sa, q.v.) are not mentioned here, for the reason that they exist only in those world-periods in which Buddhas appear. Cf. vin~n~a^na-tthiti.