Svābhāvika — The Intrinsically Natural
Svābhāvika ('belonging to one's own nature, intrinsic, natural') designates qualities, relationships, or conditions that are not accidental or externally imposed but arise inherently from the nature (svabhāva) of the entity. In Viśiṣṭādvaita ontology, the distinction between svābhāvika and āgantuka (adventitious) is one of the most philosophically productive distinctions for understanding both the soul's condition and Bhagavān's nature.
For Bhagavān: His svābhāvika qualities are those that belong necessarily to His very essence and cannot be separated from Him without ceasing to be Bhagavān. Omniscience (sarvajñatva), omnipotence (sarvaktṛtva), supreme compassion (parama-kāruṇya), the inseparable presence of Śrī Mahālakṣmī (śrī-sāhitya) — these are svābhāvika to Bhagavān. He does not acquire them through practice or circumstance; they are eternal expressions of what He is.
For the jīvātmā: the soul's svābhāvika nature is its status as Bhagavān's śeṣa (servant/dependent) and śarīra (body in the Viśiṣṭādvaita sense). The soul's consciousness (cit-tva), its orientation toward bliss (ānanda), and its intrinsic relationship with Bhagavān are svābhāvika — they belong to the soul regardless of whether saṃsāra has covered them. The ignorance, karma, and defects accumulated in saṃsāra are āgantuka — not svābhāvika. This is why liberation is possible: grace removes what was never truly the soul's, revealing what always was.
For Bhagavān's relationship with cit and acit: the śarīra-śarīrī relationship (Bhagavān as the inner controller, cit and acit as His body) is svābhāvika — it is not a contract or arrangement entered into at some point in time but an eternal, necessary relationship arising from what Bhagavān and the world intrinsically are.
Understanding svābhāvika correctly is essential for the devotee's self-understanding in prapatti: when one performs śaraṇāgati, one is not acquiring a relationship with Bhagavān — one is living in accordance with the svābhāvika relationship that was always real.