Bhāva

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Bhāva (Skt.).
1. In Sāṃkhya, a set of psychological predispositions either eight or fifty in number. The more concise numbering renders them as virtue (dharma), vice (adharma), knowledge (jñāna), ignorance (ajńāna), non-attachment (vīrāga), attachment (rāga), power (aiśvarya), and impotence (anaiśvarya).

These dispositions are an inherent part of human nature. They create the environment in which karma is accumulated or overcome.

2. The emotional dispositions in Hinduism of the bhakta (one engaged in bhakti) to the chosen deity (iṣṭadeva): (i) śanta, peace; (ii) dāsya, servant to master; (iii) sākhya, friend to friend; (iv) vātsalya, parent to child; (v) madhura, wife to husband, lover to beloved.

3. In Buddhism, ‘being’, every kind of manifestation in the three domains of appearance (triloka: see LOKA). It is also the tenth link in chain of conditioned-arising (paticca-samup-pāda).

4. For Jains, bhāva, with dravya, enters deeply into the dynamic of lay and ascetic life. In the quest to disentangle jīva from karma, bhāva represents the spiritual elements whose priority must be secured over against the physical constituents of material appearance (dravya).