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.

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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

See Examples For:

sattva

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 Sir Charles Eliot

Rajas and tamas represent the bad states of the mind and sattva the good ones.

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

Thus in the phenomenal product whatever energy there is is due to the element of rajas and rajas alone; all matter, resistance, stability, is due to tamas, and all conscious manifestation to sattva.

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

The individual aha@mkâras and senses are related to the individual buddhis by the developing sattva determinations from which they had come into being.

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

This is the jyotis, light, which is the sure sign of complete sattva.

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