Abhava

'''Abhava''' means non-existence, negation, nothing or absence.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy|author=John A.Grimes|date=17 October 1996|publisher=SUNY Press|page=3|isbn=9780791430682|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eP5p0ev3nJEC&q=abhava&pg=PA4}}</ref> It is the negative of Bhava which means being, becoming, existing or appearance.

==Overview== Uddayana divides ''Padārtha'' (Categories) into ''Bhava'' (existence) which is real, and ''Abhava'' (non-existence) which is not real. ''Dravya'' (substance), ''Guṇa'' (quality), ''Karma'' (action), ''Samanya'' (community or generality), ''Visesa'' (particularity) and ''Samavaya'' (inherence) are the marks of existence. Four kinds of ''Abhava'' are defined by the Vaisheshika School of Hindu philosophy:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chandradhar Sharma |url=http://archive.org/details/IndianPhilosophyACriticalSurvey |title=Indian Philosophy A Critical Survey |date=1962 |pages=170}}</ref>

# ''Pragabhava'' - Prior non-existence, is the non-existence of an effect in its material cause before production; it has no beginning, but it has an end because it is destroyed by the production of the effect. Without prior non-existence there cannot be an effect. # ''Pradhvamsabhava'' - Posterior non-existence, is the non-existence of an effect by its destruction; as such it has a beginning but no end i.e. it cannot be destroyed. # ''Atyantabhava'' - Absolute non-existence, or absolute negation is non-existence in all times i.e. denial of an absolutely non-existent entity in all times and in all places. It is the state of absolute abstraction. # ''Anyonyabhava'' - Mutual non-existence, is denial of identity between two things, which have specific nature. Negation other than mutual negation is negation of relation.

The process with which the sound value collapses into the point value of the gap existing between the first and the next syllable of the first letter of the Rigveda, ''Agnim'', is ''Pradhvamsabhava'', the silent point of all possibilities within the gap is ''Atyantabhava'', the structuring dynamics of what happens within the gap ''Anyonyabhava'', and the mechanics by which the sound emerges from the point value of the gap i.e. emergence of the following syllable, is ''Pragabhava''; this mechanism is inherent in both syllables.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Plays about Famous Artists|author=Daniel Meyer Dinkgrafe|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Press|page=89|isbn=9781904303473|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wR50GEyHk-QC&q=abhava&pg=PA89}}</ref>

The Vaisheshika, the Nyaya, the Bhatta Mimamsa and Dvaita schools hold ''Abhava'' as a distinct category. Recognised as a reality by the Nyaya school, ''Abhava'' is often stated to be the reality of the greatest moment in the pluralistic universe and is connected with Mukti.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World Vol.1|author=Ganga Ram Garg|year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|page=96|isbn=9788170223740|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&q=abhava&pg=PA96}}</ref> It is a relative word, for there can be ''abhava'' only when previously there is ''bhava''; moreover it is an event occurring in time.<ref>{{cite book|title=PrasannapadaE|author=Theodor Stcherbatsky|year=1989|page=28|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120805293|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itTFXt6ZmVQC&q=abhava&pg=PA28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Nagarjunian Disputations|author=Thomas E. Wood|date=January 1994|publisher=University of Hawai Press|page=180|isbn=9780824816094|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHlvuNFxUlYC&q=abhava&pg=PA180}}</ref> The Nyaya and the Siddhantin maintain that the cognition of ''abhava'' is due to perception involving special kind of contact or sense contact.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Saivism|author=Swami Parmeshwaranand|year=2004|publisher=Sarup & Sons|page=40|isbn=9788176254274|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ro-8reHVgoC&q=abhava&pg=PA40}}</ref>

''Abhava'' is that unmanifest level from where the concrete ''Bhava'' arises or emerges.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mirror of Consciousness|author=Anna J. Bonshek|year=2001|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=194|isbn=9788120817746|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sT13ws7RKgYC&q=abhava&pg=PA194}}</ref> Vasubandhu has referred to ''Sunyata'' having the characteristic of the own-being of ''abhava'', rather than a characteristic consisting of ''bhava''. Sthiramati observes that this is, in fact, not redundant, meaning ''abhava'' does not negate ''bhava''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Buddhist Philosophy of the Middle|author=David S. Ruegg|date=10 April 2010|publisher=Wisdom Publications|page=74|isbn=9780861719365|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFSPAtt7OesC&q=abhava&pg=PA75}}</ref> ''Abhava'' refers to particular entities and not to Being; it is a theoretical or logical denial of the existence of some particular impossibility.<ref>{{cite book|title=Global History of Philosophy:The Axial Age Vol.1|author=John C. Plott|year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=163|isbn=9788120801585|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODPthacrp_cC&q=abhava&pg=PA163}}</ref> The acceptance of abhava as an independent padartha having ontological reality of its own is a peculiar feature of Indian philosophical tradition. Dharmakirti considered ''abhava'' as an ''anumana''. He had brought in the idea of imaginary presence of that whose absence was apprehended in order to explain the specificity of the absence.<ref>{{cite book|title=Contrary Thinking|author=Daya Krishna|date=20 September 2011|page=125|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=9780199795550|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a44AHKGef64C&q=abhava&pg=PA125}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Indian philosophy|state=collapsed}}

Category:Hindu philosophical concepts Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts