Bhāva — The Spiritual Emotional State in Devotion
Bhāva (Sanskrit: 'being, becoming, emotional state, feeling') refers broadly to any inner mental or emotional state, and in theological contexts specifically to the devotional emotional mood through which a bhakta relates to Bhagavān. In the Bhakti Rasā framework elaborated in Vaiṣṇava theological aesthetics (particularly Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, though also present in Śrī Vaiṣṇava thought), bhāva is the stage immediately preceding prema (mature divine love) — the tender, nascent emotional state of longing and love for Bhagavān that softens the heart.
In Śrī Vaiṣṇava theology, bhāva manifests particularly in the Āzhvārs' experience. The Āzhvārs' pāsurams are drenched in bhāva — various emotional states including: viraha-bhāva (the anguish of separation from Bhagavān, the dominant mood of Nammāzhvār's Tiruvāymozhi); dāsya-bhāva (the servant's loving submission to the Lord); mādhurya-bhāva (the sweetness of a beloved's longing); and vātsalya-bhāva (the parent's tender love for Bhagavān as child, Periyāzhvār's unique bhāva). These bhāvas are understood not as self-generated emotions but as Bhagavān's own grace flooding the Āzhvār's consciousness.
In the context of prapatti (surrender), bhāva has a specific doctrinal meaning: the mahā-viśvāsa (supreme trust/bhāva) that Bhagavān will protect the surrendered soul is itself considered an essential component of śaraṇāgati. Without this inner bhāva of trust, the external act of surrender is incomplete. The Āchāryas teach that the transformation of the jīva's inner bhāva — from ahaṃkāra (ego-identification) to śeṣatva-bhāva (the feeling of being Bhagavān's property) — is the essential internal alchemy of Śrī Vaiṣṇava sādhana.