svabhāva
From Buddha-Nature
Sanskrit Noun
svabhāva
intrinsic nature
स्वभाव
རང་བཞིན་
自性
Basic Meaning
The nature or essence of a thing, which originates only from itself and is not dependent on any external entities, causes, or conditions.
Has the Sense of
An innate attribute that establishes the completely independent existence of an entity, which is typically refuted in the Madhyamaka notion of emptiness.
| Term Variations | |
|---|---|
| Key Term | svabhāva |
| Topic Variation | svabhāva |
| Tibetan | རང་བཞིན་ ( rangzhin) |
| Wylie Tibetan Transliteration | rang bzhin ( rangzhin) |
| Devanagari Sanskrit | स्वभाव |
| Romanized Sanskrit | svabhāva |
| Chinese | 自性 |
| Chinese Pinyin | zìxìng |
| Buddha-nature Site Standard English | intrinsic nature |
| Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term | nature |
| Richard Barron's English Term | nature of being, inherent nature, natural state, naturalness |
| Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term | inherent nature |
| Dan Martin's English Term | own-ness |
| Gyurme Dorje's English Term | essential nature, natural expression, nature |
| Ives Waldo's English Term | intrinsic nature |
| Term Information | |
| Source Language | Sanskrit |
| Basic Meaning | The nature or essence of a thing, which originates only from itself and is not dependent on any external entities, causes, or conditions. |
| Has the Sense of | An innate attribute that establishes the completely independent existence of an entity, which is typically refuted in the Madhyamaka notion of emptiness. |
| Term Type | Noun |
| Definitions | |
| Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | See page 879: In Sanskrit, “self-nature,” “intrinsic existence,” or “inherent existence,” the term has a general sense of “essence” or “nature,” but is used in philosophical literature. |
| Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary | An inherently existent and independent entity of the individual self or of phenomena. Something that can serve as a valid basis for individual attributes. |
| Other Definitions | Richard Barron: the very nature of things |
