hadaya vatthu
Heart-base
[ HA-da-ya VUT-thoo ]
Seeing it in life
Hadaya-vatthu is the physical support of cittas other than the five sense-consciousnesses, located in the region of the heart according to the Commentaries.
In short
Material base of mind-consciousness.
The analysis
Hadaya-vatthu is the physical support for cittas other than the five sense-consciousnesses — the material base the Commentaries locate in the region of the heart, from which mind-door consciousness is said to arise. Notably, the Abhidhamma Piṭaka itself doesn't explicitly name this base; its location is established in the later Commentaries.
Where it sits
Hadaya-vatthu functions for mind-consciousness the way pasāda-rūpa functions for the five physical senses — a material basis without which the relevant citta couldn't arise.
No everyday analogue is offered for this one directly — it's a structural, largely Commentarial item, included for completeness within the rūpa scheme.
Commonly mistaken for
The heart as a symbol of emotion. Hadaya-vatthu is a technical material-base classification, not a poetic claim about where feelings live.
Explicitly stated in the earliest Abhidhamma texts. Its specific location is a Commentarial addition.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha VI; Aṭṭhasālinī (Commentary).
Related terms