Bhāva is the Sanskrit term for a house in the Vedic birth chart. The 12 bhavas represent different life domains: 1st (self, body), 2nd (wealth, speech), 3rd (courage, siblings), 4th (home, mother), 5th (intelligence, children), 6th (disease, enemies), 7th (spouse, partnerships), 8th (longevity, transformation), 9th (dharma, fortune), 10th (karma, career), 11th (gains, elder siblings), 12th (losses, liberation). Planets placed in a bhava strongly influence that life area.