Saibhang

Saibhang is a term found in Sanskrit and Pali literature, frequently transliterated in various forms such as saibhang, saibhānga, or svayambhu in related languages. The literal sense of the root is “self-born” or “self-manifest,” and the word is used to denote beings or phenomena that arise without external causation.

In Buddhist contexts, the usage of saibhang is not common in the core Theravada canon, but it appears in some later commentaries and Mahayana texts. In these sources, it is sometimes employed to describe the intrinsic or spontaneous emergence of mind, or the idea of buddha-nature arising from within. The precise meaning can vary by tradition, and some translators render the term as “self-arisen.” Because of this variation, saibhang is often understood within its textual context rather than as a single established doctrine.

The term is related to broader Sanskrit and Pali vocabulary for intrinsic nature and origin, such as svabhāva (intrinsic nature) and tathāgatagarbha (buddha-nature), though these terms have distinct technical definitions in different schools. In Hinduism, a closely related concept appears as svayambhu (self-manifest) and is used for self-originated deities or sacred sites, illustrating a parallel semantic field rather than a uniform doctrinal position.

transliteration differences reflect linguistic variation across Sanskrit, Pali, and modern transliterations, contributing to a range of interpretations. When encountering saibhang, it is helpful to consider the specific text and scholarly commentary to determine whether the word refers to an ontological status of phenomena, a description of buddha-nature, or a devotional epithet.