Bhāva
Bhāva · bhāva, “inner disposition, feeling”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root bhū (to be, to become): “a state of being”, the state of the mind.
Meaning: the inner disposition, the feeling or attitude with which a karma is done. It is of three kinds, sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa, and the fruit of every rite follows it.
In the scriptures: in the Gautamī Māhātmya, Brahmā tells Nārada of the Ṛshisatra tīrtha, where the seven ṛshis held a great satra by the Gautamī. Viśvarūpa, an enemy of the devas, came to them, pleased them by brahmacarya and tapas, and asked how he might beget a son invincible even to the devas, and whether by yajña or by tapas. Viśvāmitra answered him with a teaching on karma and bhāva.
Karma is the seed, he said, and it is of two kinds, that which is being done and that which has been done; in both cases the bhāvas are the cause of karma. A being gains fruit according to the bhāva with which it performs karma, and a karma done duly but without bhāva gives an adverse fruit. Everything conforms to its bhāva: tapas, vratas, dāna, japa, yajñas and the other holy rites yield fruit according to the bhāva of the one who performs them. Bhāva is of three kinds, sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa, and the fruit follows the karmas and the bhāvas that go with them; so the course of karma is hard to know, and the wise hold the bhāva that matches what they wish for. Through bhāvas the material cause and the rest begin to work, and through bhāvas the fruit is gained. Karma sustained by bhāva is the cause of bondage as well as of moksha. The selfsame thing appears different on account of bhāva; karma is performed and its fruit enjoyed according to bhāva, and so bhāva is especially important. “Perform karma in accordance with the bhāva,” he told Viśvarūpa, “and you will attain whatever you desire.”
Viśvarūpa took up a tāmasa bhāva and performed a long and terrible tapas, meditating on the Ātmā as a terrible Purusha within a blazing fire, until a divine voice told him to offer himself into the fire. He did so, keeping back only his jaṭā, and the son born of it is called Vṛtra in the Veda; he too became wicked (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103).
Related terms: Karma · Sattva · Rajas · Tamas · Phala · Saṅkalpa
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103