As a deity name
Name 523 of the Shiva Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Sage Tandi to Sage Upamanyu
Name 7 of the Vishnu Sahasranāma — Mahabharata (Anushasana Parva), as taught by Bhishma to Yudhishthira on his deathbed
As a Hindi name
भाव · noun · masculine
सत्ता । अस्तित्व । हाना । अभाव का उलटा · मन में उत्पन्न होनेवाला विकार या प्रवृत्ति । विचार । ख्याल । जैसे,— (क) इस समय मेरे मन में अनेक प्रकार के भव उठ रहे हैं । (ख) उस समय आपके मन का भाव आपके चेहरे पर झलक रहा था · अभिप्राय । तात्पर्य । मतलब । जैसे,— इस पद का भाव समझ में नहीं आता — Śabdasāgara
भाव · bhāva · s.m.
Being, existence; birth; state or condition of being, natural state; nature, property, quality, disposition, temper — Platts (1884), digital edition courtesy DSAL, University of Chicago, p. 180
भाव · masculine
rate, price; existence, being; emotion, feeling; disposition, character, nature
Cited formation "भाव" is भ + -आव: भ means "the twenty-fourth consonant in Hindi", and the suffix -आव forms abstract nouns (masc.). CHD Basic Grammar App. I §8(8) — cited from the extracted rule table
a Hindi word, a tatsama: the Sanskrit word borrowed unchanged into Hindi भाव — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
“Borrowed from Sanskrit भाव (bhāva).” — per Wiktionary’s etymology record
bhāva m. (√ bhū) becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance, ŚvetUp.; KātyŚr. &c.
turning or transition into (loc. or comp.), MBh.; RPrāt.
As a Sanskrit word
Meaning
state, condition, rank (with sthāvira, old age; euphem. = he dies; state of being anything, esp. ifc., e.g. bālabhāva, the state of being a child, childhood = bālatā or -tva; somet…
Scripturally attested Verified derivationMultiple readings (13)Why this matches what you typed
The spelling you confirmed, भाव, is itself a dictionary headword — no grammatical transformation stands between what you typed and the meaning above.
Dictionary citations
bhāva m. (√ bhū) becoming, being, existing, occurring, appearance, ŚvetUp.; KātyŚr. &c.
turning or transition into (loc. or comp.), MBh.; RPrāt.
continuance (opp. to cessation; ekoti-bhāva, continuity of the thread of existence through successive births, Buddh., wrongly translated under ekoti-bh˚), MBh.
state, condition, rank (with sthāvira, old age; anyam bhāvam āpadyate, euphem. = he dies; state of being anything, esp. ifc., e.g. bālabhāva, the state of being a child, childhood = bālatā or -tva; sometimes added pleonastically to an abstract noun, e.g. tanutā-bhāva, the state of thinness), Up.; ŚrS.; MBh. &c.
true condition or state, truth, reality (ibc. and ˚vena ind. really, truly), MBh.; Hariv.
Alternative readings
More than one analysis survives full verification. That ambiguity is real, so we show every reading rather than pick one silently.
Caveats
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