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सत्त्व
sattva
The guna of purity, harmony, light, and clarity. Predominant in spiritually inclined people, sattvic food, and meditative states.
सत्त्व गुण; शुद्धि, प्रकाश, ज्ञान।
Hindu thought is built from a vocabulary of carefully-distinguished terms. Words like sattva are not loose translations — each has a precise scriptural genealogy, a specific role in ritual or philosophy, and often a counterpart that completes its meaning. Many of the major Hindu darśanas (Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Vedānta, Mīmāṃsā, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika) refined their vocabulary over centuries; the same Sanskrit term can carry different shades in different schools.
Sattva sits within a cluster of related concepts — guna, rajas, tamas. Reading these together gives you the actual texture of the idea, rather than treating it as an isolated definition. Each Sanskrit term in this glossary is cross-linked to the others it presupposes.
Where useful we cite the primary scriptural source — the Upaniṣad, sūtra, or smṛti passage where the term is given its classical sense — alongside trusted modern dictionaries (Monier-Williams, V.S. Apte, Sanskrit Heritage). For practical questions about usage in pūjā or daily life, ask a paṇḍita in your tradition.
Quality; the three constituent qualities of Prakriti — Sattva (purity, balance), Rajas (activity, passion), Tamas (inertia, darkness). All phenomena are mixtures of these three.
The guna of activity, passion, and movement. Drives ambition, desire, and worldly engagement.
The guna of inertia, darkness, ignorance, and lethargy. Causes confusion, sloth, and delusion when dominant.
Non-dualism; Adi Shankara's school. Brahman alone is real, the world is mithya, the jiva is ultimately Brahman. Key texts: Brahma Sutras, Upanishads, Gita with Shankara's bhashyas.
Bliss; the third element of sat-chit-ananda. The natural condition of the Self when free of vrittis. Taittiriya Upanishad has the 'Anandamimansa' enumeration of bliss-degrees.
'Inner controller'; the indwelling Lord. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7 (the Antaryami Brahmana) describes the Self as the inner controller of all beings — known and unknowable.
Inference. Five-step Nyaya syllogism: pratijna (proposition), hetu (reason), udaharana (example), upanaya (application), nigamana (conclusion).
Worldly wealth, prosperity, and material well-being. The second purushartha. Kautilya's Arthashastra is the classic treatise on its pursuit.
'There-is-ist'; one who accepts the authority of the Vedas. The six orthodox darshanas (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vedanta) are astika. Buddhism and Jainism are nastika.
The Self; the eternal, conscious, unchanging essence of the individual; identical with Brahman in Advaita Vedanta. Distinguished from the body-mind complex (anatman in Buddhism).
Ignorance; specifically, the foundational ignorance that misidentifies Atman with body-mind. The root cause of bondage in Vedanta and Yoga.
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