Abhava and its testimony: An analysis on the special viewpoint of Mimansa and Vaisheshika School

Abstract

According to all the philosophical systems of India, Liberation is the ultimate goal of livelihood. Liberation means ‘Moksha’. Among the four Purusharthas ‘Moksha’ is considered as ‘Param Purushartha’. And for attaining the Liberation knowledge is the only way. It is the key issue related to life and the world. Here the ‘knowledge’ means completely understanding a subject or in philosophical terms, it’s ‘Padartha’. Padartha literally means ‘the meaning of a word’ or ‘the object signified by a word’. By this one can able to distinguish between real and unreal, temporary and permanent, good and bad etc. Padhartha is the subject of knowledge. Knowledge is never absolute, knowledge is always subjective and without a subject, there is no knowledge. In Indian philosophy especially in Nyaya- Vaisheshika School, there are two types of substance, one is Existing Substance (Bhava) and another is Non-existing Substance (Abhava). According to Indian Philosophy; just as a Bhava Padhartha, Abhava is also a matter of knowledge. e.g. ‘There is a pot in the room’- this is how we get the knowledge of a substance, in the same way ‘There is no pot in the room’ thus we get the knowledge of a non-existing object. Therefore, like the Bhava Padartha, the Abhava Padartha is also knowledgeable. But the question is how makes it possible to attain the knowledge of a non-existing object? In this research paper, I want to explore the relatively firm testimony of non-existing substances.