Abhava means

non-existence Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontological property of being. Etymology The term ''existence'' comes from Old French ''existence'', from Medieval Latin ''existentia/exsistentia'' ...

negation In logic, negation, also called the logical complement, is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P or \overline. It is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and false ...

nothing Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...

or absence. It is the negative of Bhava which means being, becoming, existing or appearance.

Overview

Uddayana divides '' Padārtha'' (Categories) into ''

Bhava The Sanskrit word bhava (भव) means being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, be, production, origin,Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archiveभव bhava but also habitual or emotional te ...

'' (

existence Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontology, ontological Property (philosophy), property of being. Etymology The term ''existence'' comes from Old French ''existence'', from Medieval ...

) which is real, and ''Abhava'' (

) which is not real. ''

Dravya Dravya ( sa, द्रव्य) means substance or entity. According to the Jain philosophy, the universe is made up of six eternal substances: sentient beings or souls ('' jīva''), non-sentient substance or matter (''pudgala''), principle of ...

'' ( substance), ''

Guṇa ( sa, गुण) is a concept in Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, which can be translated as "quality, peculiarity, attribute, property".Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

'' (

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

), ''Samanya'' (community or generality), ''Visesa'' (particularity or partimerity) and ''Samavaya'' (

inherence Inherence refers to Empedocles' idea that the qualities of matter come from the relative proportions of each of the four elements entering into a thing. The idea was further developed by Plato and Aristotle. Overview That Plato accepted (or ...

) are the marks of existence. ''Abhava'' has not been categorically defined by the

Vaisheshika Vaisheshika or Vaiśeṣika ( sa, वैशेषिक) is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy (Vedic systems) from ancient India. In its early stages, the Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemolog ...

School of

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems ('' shad-darśana'') – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Andrew Nicholson (20 ...

but is of four kinds viz – 1) ''Pragabhava'' i.e. Prior non-existence, 2) ''Pradhvamsabhava'' i.e. Posterior non-existence, 3) ''Atyantabhava'' i.e. Absolute non-existence, and 4) '' Anyonyabhava'' i.e. Mutual non-existence. # ''Pragabhava'' i.e. Prior non-existence, is the non-existence of an effect in its material cause before production; it has a beginning it has an end because it is destroyed by the production of the effect. Without prior non-existence there cannot be an effect. # ''Pradhvamsabhava'' i.e.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'' i.e. 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'' i.e. Mutual non-existence, is denial of identity between two things, which have specific nature.

Negation In logic, negation, also called the logical complement, is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P or \overline. It is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and false ...

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 The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

, ''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. The

, the

Nyaya (Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Mimamsa and

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST:Tattvavāda), is a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy. The term Tattvavada literally means "arguments from a realist viewpoint". The Tattvavada (Dvaita) Vedanta su ...

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. It is a relative word, for there can be ''abhava'' only when previously there is ''bhava''; moreover it is an event occurring in time. The Nyaya and the Siddhantin maintain that the cognition of ''abhava'' is due to perception involving special kind of contact or sense contact. ''Abhava'' is that unmanifest level from where the concrete ''Bhava'' arises or emerges.

Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who ...

has referred to '' Sunyata'' having the characteristic of the own-being of ''abhava'', rather than a characteristic consisting of ''bhava'' which Sthiramati observes is in fact not redundant, which means ''abhava'' does not negate ''bhava''. ''Abhava'' refers to particular entities and not to

Being In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

; it is a theoretical or logical denial of the existence of some particular impossibility. The acceptance of abhava as an independent padartha having ontological reality of its own is a peculiar feature of Indian philosophical tradition.

Dharmakirti Dharmakīrti (fl. c. 6th or 7th century; Tibetan: ཆོས་ཀྱི་གྲགས་པ་; Wylie: ''chos kyi grags pa''), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford ...

considered ''abhava'' as an ''

anumana ''Pramana'' (Sanskrit: प्रमाण, ) literally means "proof" and "means of knowledge".Hindu philosophical concepts Buddhist philosophical concepts