Nonlinear electrostatic waves in self-gravitating dusty plasmas are conside
red in two limiting cases, according to whether the charged-particle dynami
cs is governed mostly by electrostatic forces or mostly by gravitation. Thi
s shows a significant difference between these two plasma media with respec
t to the envelope dynamics in the nonlinear regime. In the former case, whe
n omega (2)(p alpha) > omega (2)(J alpha), the amplitude perturbations are
longitudinally unstable only in the short-wave range, and the nonlinear eff
ects can result in the formation of longitudinal dust-acoustic solitary wav
es. But even weak self-gravitation prevents the formation of dust-acoustic
solitons, and only transverse solitary structures are possible. In the othe
r limiting case (omega (2)(p alpha) < <omega>(2)(J alpha)), there is always
a transverse modulational instability, which can lead to transverse solita
ry waves. In both cases, there is a threshold for solitary-wave formation.