---
type: Concept
bundle: yoga-darshana
bundle_version: "0.2.0"
id: sattva
title: "Sattva"
iast: "Sattva"
devanagari: "सत्त्व"
description: "The guṇa of clarity and luminosity in Prakṛti — not goodness, not purity as a moral trait."
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Sāṃkhya
text_source: "YS 3.35, 3.49-3.56"
tags:
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - Samkhya
  - guna
  - clarity
  - buddhi
  - viveka
not:
  - term: "goodness"
    why: "goodness in English is a moral category; Sattva is an ontological quality; it is \"good\" only instrumentally, because its clarity enables viveka-khyāti"
    instead: "Keep Sattva untranslated; do not substitute the English term."
  - term: "purity"
    why: "purity implies freedom from impurity; Sattva is not free from Prakṛtic nature — it is the most refined Guṇa, but still Guṇa, still Prakṛtic"
  - term: "light"
    why: "light is a metaphor for Sattva's function (illumination, clarity), not its definition"
  - term: "peace"
    why: "peace is an experiential state sometimes produced by Sattva's predominance; Sattva itself is an ontological principle, not a feeling"
  - term: "virtue"
    why: "virtue is the common dictionary meaning of *guṇa* but in the three-Guṇa context Sattva is a constituent principle, not a moral attribute"
related:
  - /concepts/guna.md
  - /concepts/rajas.md
  - /concepts/tamas.md
  - /concepts/prakriti-yoga.md
  - /concepts/chitta-vritti.md
  - /concepts/viveka-khyati.md
  - /concepts/samprajnata-samadhi.md
timestamp: "2026-06-20"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Sattva — सत्त्व

**Not:** goodness, purity, light, peace, virtue

The luminous Guṇa — the principle of clarity, lightness, and reflectivity in Prakṛti. Sattva's capacity to reflect consciousness makes buddhi (the finest Prakṛtic evolute) the instrument through which Puruṣa appears to know. Cultivating Sattvic citta is the proximate preparation for viveka-khyāti. But Sattva is not the destination — even Sattva must ultimately be transcended.

## Etymology

- *sat* — being, reality, truth, goodness
- *-tva* — abstract suffix (forming an "-ness" noun)
- *sattva* — "being-ness"; the quality of being what is real and clear; existence in its transparent, luminous aspect

The same root *sat* appears in *sat-cit-ānanda* (being-consciousness-bliss) and *satya* (truth, that which is aligned with *sat*). Sattva's resonance with truth is intentional: when Sattva predominates, citta approaches a state where reality is seen more accurately.

## Sattva's Role in the Sāṃkhya-Yoga System

Sattva serves as Prakṛti's closest approximation to consciousness without being consciousness:

1. Puruṣa is pure consciousness — non-Prakṛtic, unchanging
2. Buddhi is the finest Prakṛtic evolute — predominately Sattvic
3. Buddhi reflects Puruṣa's light because Sattva is naturally transparent to consciousness
4. This reflection produces the *appearance* of a knowing self — the source of asmitā
5. When Sattva is very pure and Rajas/Tamas attenuated, Buddhi reflects so clearly that Puruṣa begins to be seen as distinct from Buddhi — this is viveka-khyāti approaching

## Sattva in Practice: Cultivation and Limits

**What cultivates Sattva:**
- Sattvic diet (light, nourishing, non-intoxicating foods)
- Yama and niyama (ethical discipline reduces Rajas' agitation and Tamas' inertia)
- Prāṇāyāma (refines the energy body, reduces grossness)
- Dhāraṇā and dhyāna (prolonged single-pointed focus produces Sattvic citta)
- Sattvic association (*satsaṅga*)

**The Sattvic trap (YS 3.49-3.56):**

Patañjali warns explicitly against attachment to the fruits of Sattva. A highly Sattvic practitioner may develop:
- Extraordinary perceptions and siddhis (*vibhūtis*)
- A subtle attachment to clarity, equanimity, and the pleasure of meditative states
- Identification of Puruṣa with the Sattvic buddhi — a refined form of asmitā

This is sometimes called *sattva-ahaṃkāra* — ego built on spiritual clarity rather than gross desire. The Yoga Bhāṣya on YS 3.49-56 treats this at length: even the experience of viveka (*viveka-ja jñāna*) can become an object of attachment. When this happens, the path stalls.

The prescription (YS 3.51): *tadvairāgyādapi doṣabījakṣaye kaivalyam* — "from dispassion (*vairāgya*) even toward that (*tat* — viveka and its fruits), the seeds of defect are burned, and kaivalya arises."

## Cross-References

- [Guṇa-s](guna.md) — Sattva is one of the three constitutive Guṇa-s of Prakṛti
- [Rajas](rajas.md) — the active Guṇa that Sattva's cultivation must moderate
- [Tamas](tamas.md) — the inert Guṇa that obscures Sattva's clarity
- [Citta-Vṛtti](chitta-vritti.md) — the fluctuations of citta; Sattvic citta has subtler, calmer, more transparent vṛttis
- [Viveka-Khyāti](viveka-khyati.md) — the discriminative wisdom that arises when Sattva-predominance is refined enough; but even viveka-khyāti is a Sattvic vṛtti and must be transcended
- [Samprajñāta Samādhi](samprajnata-samadhi.md) — the range of absorptions produced by Sattvic citta

## Audience Metaphor

Sattva is clean glass in a window. With thick Tamas-glass, you can't see outside at all. With agitated Rajas-glass (always vibrating), you get a distorted view. Sattva gives you clear, still glass — you see the garden (Puruṣa's light) without distortion. But the glass is still there. Asamprajñāta samādhi is when even the glass dissolves and there is only the seeing.

## Citations

1. [Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali](/references/yoga-sutras.md) 3.35, 3.49-3.56
2. [Sāṃkhya Kārikā](/references/samkhya-karika.md) of Īśvarakṛṣṇa (kārikā 12-13)
3. [Bhagavad Gītā](/references/bhagavad-gita.md) 14.6-9
4. [Yoga Bhāṣya of Vyāsa](/references/yoga-bhasya.md) on YS 3.49
