Bhavas

Bhava is a Sanskrit term meaning existence, state, or mood. In Indian intellectual and artistic traditions, bhava denotes a mode of being or emotional condition and is used across contexts such as aesthetics, ritual, and astrology. The sense of the word covers both inner feelings and the outward expressions associated with a given domain of life.

In dramaturgy and performance theory, bhava refers to the inner emotional state of a character and the corresponding outward expression. Natyashastra scholars describe sthayi bhavas, persistent emotional bases, and vyabhichari bhavas, fleeting moods that illuminate momentary actions. The actor’s bhavas are intended to elicit rasas, the aesthetic flavors such as love, laughter, compassion, anger, heroism, fear, disgust, wonder, and peace, in the audience. This framework links character psychology, gesture, and audience experience in classical Indian theatre and dance.

In Vedic astrology, bhava denotes a house in the birth chart. The twelve bhavas represent life domains: self and body, finances, communication, home, children and creativity, health and service, partners, shared resources and transformation, spirituality and fortune, career and authority, friendships and gains, and losses or moksha. Planets occupying or aspecting a bhava, together with its ruling planet, are used to interpret a chart and predict how those life areas may unfold.

Outside aesthetics and astrology, bhava is a general Sanskrit term for a state of being, mood, or attitude, employed across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain texts to describe how mental and existential dispositions shape experience.