The Pāli Nikāyas define dhammas functionally and contextually, not through intrinsic natures, suggesting post-canonical svabhāva definitions represent doctrinal innovation, not recovery.
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functional and contextual definition(as the method the Nikāyas use to define dhammas)
Defining something by what it does or how it's used in different situations, rather than by some fixed inner quality it always has.
post-canonical(as describing when svabhāva-thinking was traditionally thought to have originated)
Texts or ideas that came after the original, foundational religious texts—usually later interpretations or developments of earlier teachings.
svabhāva(Abhidharma ontology; the term's meaning shifted from categorial to ontological usage in the vibhāṣā compendia)
Initially carrying an inherent ambiguity grounded in the term bhāva (mode of existence), svabhāva came to acquire the dominant sense of 'intrinsic nature' that specifies and individuates individual dharmas