Besides the participle bhávant, there is another stem bhávant, frequently used in respectful address as substitute for the pronoun of the second person (but construed, of course, with a verb in the third person), which is formed with the suffix vant, and so declined, having in the nom. sing, bhávān; and the contracted form bhosof its old-style vocative bhavas is a common exclamation of address: you, sir! Its origin has been variously explained; but it is doubtless a contraction of bhágavant. |
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