sattva ［薩埵］ (; Pali satta;  satta): Being, existence, a living being, consciousness, spirit, or character. In Chinese translations of Buddhist sutras, the term sattva is rendered as living being or sentient being. “Sentient beings” refers to those living beings endowed with emotion and consciousness. Sattva is a component of such Buddhist terms as bodhisattva (a being who aspires to bodhi or enlightenment) and mahāsattva (a great being, an honorific title for a bodhisattva).