Svabhāva

Innate nature, inherent disposition, essential character. From sva (own) and bhāva (being). In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna speaks of each being acting according to its own svabhāva — the gunas compel all embodied beings to act (BG 3.33). In Buddhism, svabhāva is critiqued as the mistaken belief in inherent existence; in tantra, it is embraced as the unique flavour of divine manifestation in each form. Svabhāva is both constraint and gift: the conditioned patterning that obscures, yet also the particular doorway through which liberation dawns. See bhava, svarupa.