sattva

American  

[suht-vuh] / ˈsʌt və /

noun

Hinduism.

1. (in Sankhya and Vedantic philosophy) goodness or purity, one of the three fundamental qualities of matter said to be present in everything at varying levels.

---

Etymology

Origin of sattva

First recorded in 1780–90; from Sanskrit: “entity, essence, reality,” from sát “being, existing, living” ( see also sooth ( def. )) + -tva, abstract noun suffix ( see also -tude ( def. ))

Example Sentences

The light here referred to is the light of pure sattva.

From Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts by Jelliffe, Smith Ely

They are sattva, explained as goodness and happiness; rajas, as passion and movement; and tamas, as darkness, heaviness and ignorance.

From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 by Eliot, Charles, Sir

In later times Vedânta had compromised so far with Sâ@mkhya that it also sometimes described mâyâ as being made up of sattva, rajas, and tamas.

From A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 by Dasgupta, Surendranath

Thus Îs'vara is believed to possess a mind of pure sattva alone.

From A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 by Dasgupta, Surendranath

Now those effects can be connected with their causes only in so far as the internal organ of a person possessing sattva and so on undergoes modifications.

From The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja — Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48 by Thibaut, George