Bhava: Difference between revisions

What links here Related changes Page information Get shortened URL
Created by Marcocapelle
Last edited January 31, 2026
VisualWikitext
imported>Marcocapelle
removed parent category of Category:Twelve nidānas
 
minor changes
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{EngvarB|date=June 2020}}
{{Short description|Sanskrit word meaning existence and being}}
{{Other uses|Bhava (disambiguation)}}{{Distinguish|Bhāva (Hinduism)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2020}}{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Other uses|Bhava (disambiguation)}}
{{Buddhist term
{{Buddhist term
|en=being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin;<ref name="MW"/> habitual or emotional tendencies.<ref name="BV"/>
|en=being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin;<ref name="MW"/> habitual or emotional tendencies.
|pi=भव
|pi=भव
|pi-Latn=bhava
|pi-Latn=bhava
|sa=भव
|sa=भव
|sa-Latn=bhava
|sa-Latn=bhava
}}
|vi=hữu}}
{{Buddhist term
{{Buddhist term
|en= feeling, emotion, mood, becoming
|en= feeling, emotion, mood, becoming
Line 33: Line 34:
}}
}}


The Sanskrit word '''bhava''' (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin,<ref name="MW">Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: [http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php भव], bhava</ref> but also habitual or emotional tendencies.<ref name="BV"/>
The Sanskrit word '''''bhava''''' (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin,<ref name="MW">Monier Monier-Williams (1898), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: [http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php भव] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313042348/http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php |date=13 March 2016 }}, bhava</ref> but also habitual or emotional tendencies.


In [[Buddhism]], ''bhava'' is the tenth of the [[Twelve Nidanas|twelve links]] of ''[[Pratītyasamutpāda]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Julius Evola |author2=H. E. Musson |title=The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kza7tTkiytUC |year=1996|publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-0-89281-553-1 |pages=67–68}}</ref> It is the link between the defilements, and repeated birth, that is, reincarnation.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499">{{cite book|author1=Thomas William Rhys Davids |author2=William Stede |title=Pali-English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC |year=1921 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1144-7 |page=499 }}</ref> In Thai Buddhism, ''bhava'' is also interpreted as habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.
In [[Buddhism]], ''bhava'' is the tenth of the [[Twelve Nidanas|twelve links]] of ''[[Pratītyasamutpāda]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Julius Evola |author2=H. E. Musson |title=The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kza7tTkiytUC |year=1996|publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-0-89281-553-1 |pages=67–68}}</ref> It is the link between reincarnations.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499">{{cite book|author1=Thomas William Rhys Davids |author2=William Stede |title=Pali-English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC |year=1921 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1144-7 |page=499 }}</ref> In the [[Thai Forest Tradition]], ''bhava'' is also interpreted as the habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.<ref name=":0" />


== In Buddhism ==
== In Buddhism ==


In [[Buddhism]], ''bhava'' (not ''bhāva'', condition, nature) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin<ref name="MW"/> experience,<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/> in the sense of rebirths and redeaths, because a being is so conditioned and propelled by the karmic accumulations;<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/> but also habitual or emotional tendencies.<ref name="BV">[http://library.dhammasukha.org/what-is-habitual-tendencies.html What is Habitual Tendencies?] by [[Bhante Vimalaramsi]] and Sister Khanti-Khema</ref>
In [[Buddhism]], ''bhava'' (not ''bhāva'', condition, nature) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin<ref name="MW"/> experience,<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/> in the sense of rebirths and redeaths, because a being is so conditioned and propelled by the karmic accumulations.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/>


The term ''bhāva'' (भाव) is rooted in the term ''bhava'' (भव), and also has a double meaning, as emotion, sentiment, state of body or mind, disposition and character,<ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=bhAva&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 भव] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707192902/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=bhAva&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 |date=7 July 2017 }}, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany</ref> and in some context also means becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance while connoting the condition thereof.<ref name="andhrabharati.com">Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: [http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php भाव], bhAva</ref>
The term ''bhāva'' (भाव) is rooted in the term ''bhava'' (भव), and also has a double meaning, as emotion, sentiment, state of body or mind, disposition and character,<ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=bhAva&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 भव] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707192902/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=bhAva&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 |date=7 July 2017 }}, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany</ref> and in some context also means becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance while connoting the condition thereof.<ref name="andhrabharati.com">Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: [http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php भाव] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313042348/http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php |date=13 March 2016 }}, bhAva</ref>
{{Nidanas|float=left}}
''Bhava'' is the tenth of the [[Twelve Nidanas|twelve links]] of [[pratitya-samutpada|pratītyasamutpāda]] (dependent origination), which describes [[Samsara (Buddhism)|samsara]], the repeated cycle of our habitual responses to sensory impressions which leads to renewed ''[[Jati (Buddhism)|jāti]]'', birth. Birth is usually interpreted as rebirth in one of the realms of existence, namely heaven, demi-god, human, animal, hungry ghost or hell realms (''[[bhavacakra]]'') of Buddhist cosmology.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/> In the [[Thai Forest Tradition]], ''bhava'' is also interpreted as the habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=DeGraff |first=Geoffrey |url=https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/WithEachAndEveryBreath_210603.pdf |title=With Each & Every Breath. A Guide to Meditation |date=2013 |pages=10-11}}</ref>


''Bhava'' is the tenth of the [[Twelve Nidanas|twelve links]] of [[pratitya-samutpada|pratītyasamutpāda]] (dependent origination), which describes [[Samsara (Buddhism)|samsara]], the repeated cycle of our habitual responses to sensory impressions which leads to renewed ''[[Jati (Buddhism)|jāti]]'', birth. Birth is usually interpreted as rebirth in one of the realms of existence, namely heaven, demi-god, human, animal, hungry ghost or hell realms (''[[bhavacakra]]'') of Buddhist cosmology.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499"/> In Thai Buddhism, ''bhava'' is also interpreted as the habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.
In the [[Jatakas|Jātakas]], in which the [[Gautama Siddartha|Buddha]] didactically reminds various followers of experiences they shared with him in a past life, the hearers are said not to remember them due to ''bhava'', i.e. to having been reborn.<ref>Caroline A.F. Rhys Davids, ''Stories of the Buddha (Being Selections from the Jātakas)'', 1989, Dover Publications, ''Introduction'', pp. xix, also see pp. 2, 6, 11, etc.</ref>
 
In the [[Jatakas|Jātakas]], in which the [[Gautama Siddartha|Buddha]] didactically reminds various followers of experiences they shared with him in a past life, the hearers are said not to remember them due to ''bhava'', i.e. to having been reborn.<ref>Caroline A.F. Rhys Davids, ''Stories of the Buddha (Being Selections from the Jātakas)'', 1989, Dover Publications, ''Introduction'', pp. xix, also see pp. 2,6,11,etc.</ref>


==In Hinduism==
==In Hinduism==
{{expand section|date=May 2016}}
{{expand section|date=May 2016}}
Bhava appears in the sense of becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance in the Vedanga literature Srauta Sutras, the Upanishads such as the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], the [[Mahabharata]] and other ancient Hindu texts.<ref name="andhrabharati.com"/> When we are disrupted in any daily actitivies according to Sutra 1.2 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: “Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha”. "Our highest duty Dharma is to ourselves to be in a balanced state of mind & to have faith". Our bhavas, our emotional frame or state of mind, if negativity becomes our frame which makes it difficult for us to perform our duties ([[dharma|dharmic]], societal or other), during our daily activities it is correct to see to it that we are in a positive state, to start to balance our mind by making use of techniques of yoga such as; simple [[asanas]], [[pranayama]]s, and [[yoga|yogic meditation]]. Sutra 2.6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: “Drk-Darsanasaktyoh-Ekatmata-Iva-Asmita”. "Egoism, the seer identifies with the instruments of power of seeing, with sight and mind, that [to the egoist] is seeing". There is either success because work was done in a manner with certainty to guarantee succeeding or it is learning there was no “failure.". This learning is Jana Bhava or knowledge, learning a different knowledge base of another people isn't a belonging of ours, only our learning truly is ours. Our learning isn't the same interpretation as another's learning, only minding our own learning can we feel sure that it belongs to us. My truth, their truth.<ref name="Bhavas & Yoga">{{cite web |title=Bhavas & Yoga |url=https://theyogainstitute.org/bhavas-yoga/ |website=theyogainstitute.org |access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> Sutra 1.16 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: “Tatparam Purusakhyateh Gunavaitrshnyam”. "Absolute knowledge of the soul of the universe ([[purusha]]) is obtained when the qualities of nature ([[Gunas]]) are understood and surpassed." We should learn to have a witness to every encounter or our moments like an “attitude.". This is having a little distance between events and ourselves, a little distance affords us surrendering to a higher reality, so that we are above our ego. We place our ego aside, reacting less and are thought is ahead of ego. Sutra 1.13 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: “Tatra sthitau –yatnaḥ abhyāsaḥ”. "Abhyasa [or] practice is the effort to fix one's own self in a given attitude." When we practice and follow Dharma, Jana, and Vairagya then we have a self-reliance, positivity represented by confidence, will power and energy levels.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maharaj |first1=Swami Krishnananda |title=The Study and Practice of Yoga – Swami Krishnananda |url=https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/patanjali/raja_28.html |website=swami-krishnananda.org |access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> "Practice makes a man perfect."<ref name="Bhavas & Yoga"/>
''Bhava'' appears in the sense of becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance in the Vedanga literature Shrauta Sutras, the Upanishads such as the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], the [[Mahabharata]] and other ancient Hindu texts.<ref name="andhrabharati.com"/>
 
===In Ramakrishna Mission ===
According to Swami Sivananda, there are three kinds of bhava – sattvic, rajasic and tamasic. Which predominates in a person depends on their own nature, but sattvic bhava is ''Divine bhava'' or pure bhava (Suddha bhava).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bhava Culture|url=https://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=1526|access-date=2020-10-12|website=www.sivanandaonline.org}}</ref> Swami Nikhilananda classifies bhava as follows:<ref>Swami Nikhilananda ''Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works'' Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1984 [1953] {{ISBN|0-911206-04-3}} pp. 450–453.</ref>
 
*''śāntabhāva'', the calm, peaceful, gentle or saintly attitude
*''dāsyabhāva'', the attitude of devotion
*''sakhyabhāva'', the attitude of a friend
*''vātsalyabhāva'', the attitude of a mother towards her child
*''madhurabhāva'' (or kantabhava), the attitude of a woman in love
*''tanmayabhava'', the attitude that the Lord is present everywhere


==See also==
==See also==
 
*{{annotated link|Bhava samadhi}}
*[[Bhava samadhi]]
*[[Rebirth (Buddhism)]]
*[[Rebirth (Buddhism)]]
*{{annotated link|Svabhava}}
*[[Twelve Nidanas]]
*[[Twelve Nidanas]]


Latest revision as of 16:05, 31 January 2026


For other uses, see Bhava (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Bhāva (Hinduism).

Translations of
भव
Englishbeing, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin;[1] habitual or emotional tendencies.
Sanskritभव
(IAST: bhava)
Paliभव
(bhava)
Vietnamesehữu
Glossary of Buddhism
Translations of
भाव
Englishfeeling, emotion, mood, becoming
Sanskritभाव
(IAST: bhāva)
Paliभाव
(bhāva)
Burmeseဘာဝ
(MLCTS: bàwa̰)
Khmerភព (phob) or ភាវៈ (phiaveak)
Monဘာဝ
([həwɛ̀ʔ])
Sinhalaභව or භවය
Thaiภวะ (RTGS: phawa) or
ภาวะ (RTGS: phawa)
Glossary of Buddhism

The Sanskrit word bhava (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin,[1] but also habitual or emotional tendencies.

In Buddhism, bhava is the tenth of the twelve links of Pratītyasamutpāda.[2] It is the link between reincarnations.[3] In the Thai Forest Tradition, bhava is also interpreted as the habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.[4]

In Buddhism[edit | edit source]

In Buddhism, bhava (not bhāva, condition, nature) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin[1] experience,[3] in the sense of rebirths and redeaths, because a being is so conditioned and propelled by the karmic accumulations.[3]

The term bhāva (भाव) is rooted in the term bhava (भव), and also has a double meaning, as emotion, sentiment, state of body or mind, disposition and character,[5] and in some context also means becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance while connoting the condition thereof.[6] Template:Nidanas Bhava is the tenth of the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), which describes samsara, the repeated cycle of our habitual responses to sensory impressions which leads to renewed jāti, birth. Birth is usually interpreted as rebirth in one of the realms of existence, namely heaven, demi-god, human, animal, hungry ghost or hell realms (bhavacakra) of Buddhist cosmology.[3] In the Thai Forest Tradition, bhava is also interpreted as the habitual or emotional tendencies which leads to the arising of the sense of self, as a mental phenomenon.[4]

In the Jātakas, in which the Buddha didactically reminds various followers of experiences they shared with him in a past life, the hearers are said not to remember them due to bhava, i.e. to having been reborn.[7]

In Hinduism[edit | edit source]

Bhava appears in the sense of becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance in the Vedanga literature Shrauta Sutras, the Upanishads such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the Mahabharata and other ancient Hindu texts.[6]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Monier Monier-Williams (1898), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: भव Archived 13 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, bhava
  2. ↑ Julius Evola; H. E. Musson (1996). The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts. Inner Traditions. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-0-89281-553-1.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Thomas William Rhys Davids; William Stede (1921). Pali-English Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 499. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 DeGraff, Geoffrey (2013). With Each & Every Breath. A Guide to Meditation (PDF). pp. 10–11.
  5. ↑ भव Archived 7 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: भाव Archived 13 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, bhAva
  7. ↑ Caroline A.F. Rhys Davids, Stories of the Buddha (Being Selections from the Jātakas), 1989, Dover Publications, Introduction, pp. xix, also see pp. 2, 6, 11, etc.
Preceded by
Upādāna 		Twelve Nidānas
Bhava 		Succeeded by
Jāti
Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhava&oldid=445568"
Discover more