Abhibhava, Abhi-bhu-va: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Abhibhava means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Jainism, Prakrit, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
Alternative spellings of this word include Abhibhav.
In Hinduism
Pancaratra (worship of Nārāyaṇa)
Source: University of Vienna: Sudarśana's Worship at the Royal Court According to the AhirbudhnyasaṃhitāAbhibhava (अभिभव) refers to “(being) overpowered (by enemies)”, according to the Ahirbudhnyasaṃhitā, belonging to the Pāñcarātra tradition which deals with theology, rituals, iconography, narrative mythology and others.—Accordingly, “When kings are overpowered (abhibhava) by enemies with an army (or: by strong enemies), when cities are burnt down and the Kings’ army is driven away, when people in various districts do not have access to food [and other goods] — if the kingdom is thus oppressed by the enemies’ army, oh Great Sage, and if in this inadequate situation the King’s enemies are unimpeded, he should have a sixteen-armed Sudarśana constructed [and properly installed, for his power is] without obstacles”.
Pancaratra (पाञ्चरात्र, pāñcarātra) represents a tradition of Hinduism where Narayana is revered and worshipped. Closeley related to Vaishnavism, the Pancaratra literature includes various Agamas and tantras incorporating many Vaishnava philosophies.
Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)
Source: SOAS University of London: Protective Rites in the Netra TantraAbhibhava (अभिभव) refers to “defeat (of oneself )” (in dreams), according to the Svacchanda-tantra.—Accordingly, [verse 4.21-27, while describing inauspicious dreams]—“[...] [He dreams of] the destruction of houses, palaces, beds, clothes, and seats; defeat of oneself (abhibhava—ātmano'bhibhavaṃ) in battle and theft of ones things. [He] ascends or is amongst donkeys, camels, dogs, jackals, and herons, vultures, and cranes. [He rides on] buffalos, owls, and crows, eats cooked meat, [wears a] red garland, and ointment for the body. [...]”
Shaiva (शैव, śaiva) or Shaivism (śaivism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshiping Shiva as the supreme being. Closely related to Shaktism, Shaiva literature includes a range of scriptures, including Tantras, while the root of this tradition may be traced back to the ancient Vedas.
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Maha Prajnaparamita SastraAbhibhava (अभिभव) refers to a “defect” (Cf. Viparyaya—‘mistake’), according to Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter 41).—Accordingly, “[The eighteen āveṇika-dharmas (‘special attributes’)]— [...] (9). The Buddha has no loss of mindfulness.—He has no loss of mindfulness.—[...] [Question].—First it was said that the Buddha has no failure of mindfulness and now it is said that he has no loss of mindfulness. Are the absence of failure of mindfulness and the absence of loss of mindfulness the same or different? If they are the same, why repeat it; if they are different, what does the difference consist of? [Answer].—Failure of mindfulness is a mistake (viparyaya); loss of mindfulness is a defect (abhibhava). Failure of mindfulness is an error in the postures, the way one holds one’s head, comes or goes; non-loss of mindfulness is the mindfulness lasting during the concentrations and the superknowledges, the unhindered penetration of the past and the present. [...]”.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
Source: Sutta: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English DictionaryAbhibhava, (fr. abhibhavati) defeat, humiliation SnA 436. (Page 67)
[Pali to Burmese]
Source: Sutta: Tipiṭaka Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary (တိပိဋက-ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန်)abhibhava—
(Burmese text): (က) လွှမ်းမိုး-နှိပ်နင်း-ခြင်း။ (ခ) လွှမ်းမိုး-ဖိနှိပ်-ခြင်း။ (ဂ) အယူကို စွန့်စေခြင်း။ (ဃ) သာလွန်ခြင်း။
(Auto-Translation): (a) Influence - Oppression - Action. (b) Influence - Pressure - Action. (c) Abandoning a belief. (d) Superiority.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryabhibhava (अभिभव).—m S Defeat, discomfiture, rout.
Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-Englishabhibhava (अभिभव).—m Defeat, discomfiture.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव).—
1) Defeat, subjugation, subjection, overpowering; इतरेतरानभिभवेन मृगास्तमुपासते गुरुमिवान्तसदः (itaretarānabhibhavena mṛgāstamupāsate gurumivāntasadaḥ) Kirātārjunīya 6.34 (cf. K.45 and the Bible "The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb" &c.); 8.28; स्पर्शानुकूला इव सूर्यकान्तास्तद- न्यतेजोभिभवाद्वमन्ति (sparśānukūlā iva sūryakāntāstada- nyatejobhibhavādvamanti) Ś.2.7 when assailed, opposed, overpowered by another energy; अभिभवः कुत एव सपत्नजः (abhibhavaḥ kuta eva sapatnajaḥ) R. 9.4.4.21.
2) Being overpowered जराभिभवविच्छायम् (jarābhibhavavicchāyam) K. 346; being attacked or affected, stupefied (by fever &c.); न रोगशान्तिर्न चाभिभवः (na rogaśāntirna cābhibhavaḥ) Suśr.
3) Contempt, disrespect; निरभिभवसाराः परकथाः (nirabhibhavasārāḥ parakathāḥ) Bhartṛhari 2.64.
4) Humiliation, mortification (of pride); अलभ्यशोकाभिभवेयमाकृतिः (alabhyaśokābhibhaveyamākṛtiḥ) Kumārasambhava 5. 43; K.195.
5) Predominance, prevalence, rise, spread; अधर्माभिभवात्कृष्ण प्रदुष्यन्ति कुलस्त्रियः (adharmābhibhavātkṛṣṇa praduṣyanti kulastriyaḥ) Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 1.41; Kirātārjunīya 2.37.
Derivable forms: abhibhavaḥ (अभिभवः).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव).—m.
(-vaḥ) 1. Defeat, subjugation. 2. Humiliation, disgrace. E. abhi implying inferiority, and bhava being; from bhū to be, and ap aff.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव).—i. e. abhi-bhū + a, m. 1. The being overpowered, [Śākuntala, (ed. Böhtlingk.)] [distich] 40. 2. Defeat.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव).—[adjective] predominant, superior. [masculine] predominance, superiority, overthrow, humiliation, defeat (also abhibhavana [neuter]).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Abhibhava (अभिभव):—[=abhi-bhava] a See 1. abhi-√bhū below.
2) [=abhi-bhava] [from abhi-bhū] b mfn. overpowering, powerful, [Atharva-veda i, 29, 4]
3) [v.s. ...] m. prevailing, overpowering, predominance, [Bhagavad-gītā etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] defeat, subjugation under ([instrumental case] or [ablative], or in [compound])
5) [v.s. ...] disregard, disrespect
6) [v.s. ...] humiliation, mortification.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Goldstücker Sanskrit-English DictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव):—[tatpurusha compound] m.
(-vaḥ) 1) The being overpowered or op-pressed, defeat, discomfiture; e. g. Hitopad.: balavānapi nistejāḥ kasya nābhibhavāspadam; or Bhaṭṭik.: badhena saṃkhye piśitāśanānāṃ kṣatrāntakasyābhibhavena caiva . āḍhyaṃbhaviṣṇuḥ &c.; or tvayādya laṅkābhibhavetiharṣādduṣṭo…ntarātmāḥ or figuratively: Śakunt.: sparśānukūlā iva sūryakāntāstadanyatejobhibhavādvamanti ‘like as the sun-stones, agreeable to the touch (if left undisturbed in their position) emit fire when they are overpowered by other (i. e. by the sun’s) fire’, (not: ‘when other fire comes to them’, as has been proposed to render this passage); or Atharv.: abhīvarto bhibhavaḥ sapatnakṣayaṇo maṇiḥ, ‘the magic jewel which is …defeat’, i. e. by which defeat is worked.
2) Becoming latent, ceasing apparently to exist; in this sense esp. in philosophical writings; e. g. Nyāya S.: abhivyaktau cābhibhavāt; or Yoga S.: vyutthānanirodhasaṃskārayorabhibhavaprādurbhāvau nirodhalakṣaṇacittānvayo nirodhapariṇāmaḥ; or Ved. Sūtra: anabhibhavaṃ ca darśayati (Śaṅkara: “…eṣa hyātmā na naśyati yaṃ brahmacaryeṇānuvindate”…); or Sāṅkhyakār.: saukṣmyādvyavadhānādabhibhavāt… [Iswarak.: (scil. satāmapyarthānāmanupalabdhiḥ) yathā sūryatejasābhibhūtā grahanakṣatratārakādayo nopalabhyante].
3) Humiliation, abatement of pride, (comp. abhibhūta 4.); e. g. Bhartṛh.: nirabhibhavasārāḥ parakathāḥ. E. bhū with abhi, kṛt aff. ap.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव):—[abhi-bhava] (vaḥ) 1. m. Defeat.
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)Abhibhava (अभिभव) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Abhibhava.
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionaryAbhibhava (अभिभव) [Also spelled abhibhav]:—(nm) defeat; onslaught, attack.
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Prakrit-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary1) Abhibhava (अभिभव) in the Prakrit language is related to the Sanskrit word: Abhibhū.
2) Abhibhava (अभिभव) also relates to the Sanskrit word: Abhibhava.
Prakrit is an ancient language closely associated with both Pali and Sanskrit. Jain literature is often composed in this language or sub-dialects, such as the Agamas and their commentaries which are written in Ardhamagadhi and Maharashtri Prakrit. The earliest extant texts can be dated to as early as the 4th century BCE although core portions might be older.
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusAbhibhava (ಅಭಿಭವ):—
1) [noun] the fact of being defeated; defeat; subjugation.
2) [noun] the act or fact of the price, dignity being hurt; humiliation; the state of being humbled.
3) [noun] lack of respect or esteem; disrespect.
4) [noun] difficulty; distress.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Bhu, Abhi, Va, Bhava.
Starts with (+7): Abhibhavadayi, Abhibhavak, Abhibhavaka, Abhibhavamana, Abhibhavameydu, Abhibhavana, Abhibhavanadanta, Abhibhavanaka, Abhibhavanakara, Abhibhavanakarana, Abhibhavanakaranatta, Abhibhavanapariyaya, Abhibhavanappavatti, Abhibhavanaragadhatuka, Abhibhavanasamattha, Abhibhavanasanna, Abhibhavanata, Abhibhavanattha, Abhibhavanavisesa, Abhibhavanem.
Full-text (+17): Nirabhibhava, Patipakkhabhibhava, Kilesabhibhava, Durabhibhava, Thinamiddhabhibhava, Abhibhu, Andhakarabhibhava, Balavasokabhibhava, Balabhibhava, Kusaladhammabhibhava, Khudabhibhava, Kuttharogabhibhava, Ragabhibhava, Tanhabhibhava, Apipavam, Niddabhibhava, Abhibhavasanna, Byamohandhakarabhibhava, Abhibhuti, Anabhibhava.
Relevant text
Search found 11 books and stories containing Abhibhava, Abhi-bhava, Abhi-bhu-va, Abhi-bhū-va; (plurals include: Abhibhavas, bhavas, vas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary) (by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja)
Verse 2.1.82 < [Chapter 1 - Vairāgya (renunciation)]
Preksha meditation: History and Methods (by Samani Pratibha Pragya)
6. Ritualistic Kāyotsarga < [Chapter 2 - Pre-Modern History of Meditation in Jainism]
Yoga-sutras (Vedanta Commentaries)
Sūtras 8-15 < [Part III - Powers]
Yoga-sutras (with Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra) (by Rama Prasada)
Sūtra 3.9 < [Book 3 - Attainment (Vibhūti or Siddhi)]
World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
General approaches of netra kriya sharira as per ancient ayurveda < [2022: Volume 11, June issue 7]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
I. Definition of the immeasurables (apramāṇa) < [Class 3: The four immeasurables]
II. Detailed commentary on the list < [Part 1 - Mahāyānist list of the eighteen special attributes of the Buddha]