Kenneth Howard, "The Knowledge of the Absent Entity in Advaita Vedanta" (1971)

8/9/2019 Kenneth Howard, "The Knowledge of the Absent Entity in Advaita Vedanta" (1971).

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Open Access Dissertations and Theses Open Dissertations and Theses

6-1-1971

The Knowledge of the Absent Entity in Advaita VedantaKenneth Howard Post

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T SENT N T ~ P Y D V l TA VEDA:r TTA


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THE KNOWL G

OF

THE SENT ENTITY IN DV IT VED NT

y

KENNETH O W ~ RPOST B

A Thesis

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies

i n r t i l Fulf i lment of the Requ irements

fo r the Degree

Master of r t s

l.fci1:aste:c Dnl vers i


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MASTER OF ARTS 1971(Religious Sciences)

~ 1 c M A . S ~ r : E ; RUNI V RS TYH a m i l t o n ~Ontario

.TIiILE: The K n o w l e d ~ eo f th e Absent Ent i ty i nAdvai t a Vedanta

AUTHOR: Kenneth H o ~ ~ r dP o s t ~Ao B0 ~ l i d d l e b u r yCollege)

S U P R v ~ S O RProfessor Go r a p Q ~ a

NUHBER O:l PAGES: x,

SOOPE AND COnTENTS: \1hat doesn t e X i s t ~be blow-ledge,the deceased, or an object p i s o fconcern to u s ~ By t r ac ing the po-s i t i o n o f n o ~ e x i s t e n tth ings t r ~ o u g hsome of the Sankal i te l i t r t u r 9the explanat ion of t h i r occurrencean d acknowledgement i s ullcovered oNon-exis tent th ings i n general areseen to be absent Under t h i s a n a l ~ys i s o f absence l l non-exis tentth ings m y be subsumed by the c h . a : c ~aete l o f be:Lngoeay rs y Ad vai t ed ntexpla ins t ha t absent o bjec ts a reknO i ill by unique means of kno1,rledge.They a re at tended to as pos i t i ve n t i t i s by non-apprehension Ignorance and the solQtion to problemsare known by other means even thoughthey have an equally a bs en t c ha ra cte r


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N as ato v i d ya te bhivo

nabhavo v ~ y t esa tah

f the non ex i s ten t no being the re ;

there no absence of the ex i s t en t

:


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PREFACE

One problem i n l imi t ing t h i s t he s l s i s t ha t most

th ings both are and a re note We could discuss almost

everything. However I w i l l at tempt to discuss wh3 t

Advaita Vedanta deems s ign i f i can t about the occurrence

and cogni t ion o f absence. Thus we are dea l ing with t ~

p r i n c i p a l th ings : non=existence an d absence, how they

are encountered and knOiin s an d the place of both these

th ings in the Sankar i t e t r d i t i o n

To some ex ten t we are discuss ing the b as is o f

the mysterious n the meanj.ngless 1 1i t h e i ne ff ab l e

a s t h e i r grolmd Absence i s t h t which t f i r s t appa l l s

u s ~ Through the ana lys i s o f th e o cc ur re nc e o f absence,

AdVf::>.i t a shO i' S t h a t i s o f sev era l types . Those th ings

which may be or are absen t cause pain thro1 J gh our t t h ~

ment to them. One do 8S11 t des i re ri thou t having the

absence o f the des t re I s fu l f i lment . Deslre as v as

expecta. t ion thus p re su p po se s a b se n ce , fo r absence i s

an i r r educ ib l e element o f our experience e Closer a na l y s i s

revea l s t h a t the occas ion fo r the knowledge o f absence

depends on the cont inu i ty of the exis tence o f what i s

b l e to know absence.

T hi s thesi .s vTill a empt to cope 1 li th a problem

:iv


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:Paribhasa Q I p re sum e from the int roductory passages o f~ ~ = ~

the V e d a n t a ~ P a r : i . b b a s at ha t the re was a s t rong N a v - y a ~= ~ ~

Nyaya tnf luence t the t ime o f i t s vTri t . i n g ~ Often the

idea of has seemed to me to have ar i sen from .

argrunentative necessi ty. Sankara gives f u l l considerat ion

to the p11enomenon o f absence arid n o n ~ e x i s t e n c eThe way

i n which i t was k n o w ~ however, seemed to be of secondary

im por tan ce to him.

Other t ex t s which offered grea t help as secondary

sources were D a t t a s The =SL:c W ~ y s0 L K n o w i n ~and Sinha s

I n d i ~ n ~ P s . x c h o l o g y : _ ~ o g n i ~ i gboth o f which r e l i ed

heavi ly on the v e d ~ ~ For other t e x t s , o f.course, the re i s the B i b l l o g r p h y ~There I have n o t

inc luded many o f the Western t ex t s and r t i l e s which

cont inual ly p o s ~ dand reopened the quest ions of t h i s

essay o With a range from Hamlet s sol i loquy f t or

not to be ) , to Sar t re 1 s ~ ~ g . = ~ l l i L . N ~ l h i ] ; 1 g ~to th e

r t i l e and i t s bibliography i n the E n c i L c l o = l 2 . . ~ 2 f

Phil.. L9J2l1Y. cal led IlNegatiou , to at tempt to be complete

i TOuld be f u t i l e

Indeed L t was t h e s e sources 1fhich f:l.:r.st rough tth e s ign i f i cance an d d i f f i u l t i e s o f the que stion o f

absence to me.. t seemed t h a t most o f the more meaning=

f u l quest:i.ons are not even asked i v hat does not exi .s t

t the moment doesn1t c o n f r o n t U S ~ t a l s o appeared

vl


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to m t h a t mainta in ing the unimportance o f being in

pa r t du e to the r e j ec t i on o f non-being i n ordinary e x i s t -

ence) iras p a r t of t ha t which \ias swallowing up oux aware=

ness of n on =b ei ng , w hi ch believed brought us to questiono

With these thoughts i n mind? the long t r ad i t i on o f dis=

cussing absence and negat ion in Vedanta in t r igued m o

But the approach, contents an d considera t ion o f t h i s

problem were i n most respec t s so f a r removed from the

modern Western ideas t h a t haven t t r i ed to forge a

r e so lu t i on or comparison with them from the Vedanta 0

would l ike to thank those people who opened

these sources to m and m to them my teachers o f

h not been fo r t h e i r example of thoughtful inquiry

taken to hear t and t h e i r indulgence an d encouragement

o f me I might never have plITsued a thought. Dr. Araptu ahas been of pa r t i cu l a r importance fo r t h i s p ro j ec t as

he gUided and counselled through to Another of these

teachers ) \ Tho spent long and p l e n t i f u l hours working

with m l l the w hile e nd ur in g my exacerbat ions , was

my Ynfe, Rebecca o

ITi:1


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KNOWLEDGE AND NON=APPREHENSION

1


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Note

A B B R E V I A ~ [ I O N S

vlberever s B. appea r s n e x t to an a bbrev ia t i o n

. means t h t S a n k a r a s commentary on t h t work

i s being r e fe rr e d t o

C h ~

e e ~ O 0 0 e e e 0

0 e c e e e 0

0 e o e 6 G e 6 e e

Bhaga va Q =Gi t :

B ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ s a d.. . e e _ e _ 0 Tl i t : E i : t ; : : h i L ~ ~ ~ s i.

e e ~


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INTRODUCTION

1 . ~ ~ ~

By unders tanding the Advaita Vedant ls t s l a n a l y s i s

o f the p a r t i c u l a r phenomenon o f absence and t h e i r relat ion

ship to i t I hope to d i scover Olle way o f coming to g r i p s

with absences I f what we can th ink about a re those th ings

t h a tl

perce ive , and those th in gs t h a t w e perceive a reforms, co lo r s , sounds, etc_ o i e , the th ings which our

senses con tac t ) , then how i s t h a t we f ind th ings to be

l o s t miss:i.ng o r non-ex i s t en t? Par t o f our f ea r and dis

l11ee o f death i s t h a t we yTill cease to be oW do v[e

know t h i s or come to b e l i e v e i t ancl what suppor t i s

th e re fo r such a be l i e f ?

Oont inual ly, d isco ve r th e e lus iveness o f the

problem i n the d i f f i c u l t y o f thinlcing about absent p h e ~

nomena., Thls 01us1 veness i s enhanced by \ [hat seems to be

th e l o s s o f the fu.. 1damental problem i n the dlalect:1.cs o f

l a t e r Advai tao 1 flhen the p r ob l em becomes manageable, -

appears poin t l ess Th e s e pa ra te d is c us s io n of mood from

l I n p a r t t h i s was du e to the inc reas ing compleXityo f Navya-Nyaya and the VedaJJ:lJ.st need to r e s p o n d to j_ ~See Chapter I Sec t ion 10=13 and Chaptel V Sect:i.on ~ 9 ~ 8

1


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2

the discuss ion o f the means or process of knovang absence

accounts fo r t h i s to some e x ~ e n t The access route i s

a l so important. Besides the div is ion of phenomena jus t

mentioned, Advaita separa tes ignorance from space, t ime,

god and d h a ~ ~ ~an d these four l t t e r th ings from i t s

c on sid era tio n o f absence. As the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~shows,

these problems are q ui te i nt er ti dn ed . t remains ques t ion-

ab le ifhether accounting fo r them separate ly merely loses

the problem i n a diaspora

What we are determined to t l k about here i s the

absent en t i t y. To do so we w i l l cont inual ly have to t r o ~

duce and pass from no thing11eSso But the term absence r v l l

show i t s e l f to be more an d more reve la to ry as we proceed.

That which may co nc eiv ab ly a pp ea r b ut never does i s absent .

That which may occur but i s no t here presen t s us t h an

absence The l t t e r of these tvro sources of absence i s

away from us. EXist ing with, what i s away from us i s to be

alone.. This lone l iness i s pecul ia r, hOvlever because to

be aware of i t s e l f must be able to c l l to i t s e l f t h a t

Yihich i s separa te from. This knoi Tl.edge o f se pa ra tio n

i s the mediate charac te r of knOWledge. t ex i s t s apa r t

from t ho se e xp er ie nc es I 1 11.ich bring us in to conjunct ion

w ith th in gs away from us and wherein the experience o f

immediacy i s manifes t . We wi l l discuss t h i s more i n

Chapter Five. To be away i s the c on dit io n o f both the

b s e n t e n t i t y and of our se lve s with regard to each

o t h e r ~ That which i s away from us may be on i t s vmy from


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or to U S ~ or may be t h a t which i s losto To be l o s t

i n t h i s case i s to be thoroughly impressed with non-

existenceo This l a t t e r occurs most thoroughly by f o r ~

ge t t i ng the f a c t of e X i s t e n c e ~and t h i s means the l o s s

)f memory in the f u l l e s t poss ible sense That which i s

l o s t may be discovered by wanting or i n having throl1ll

away 0 Concretely we discover t h i s i n the des i re to

be r id o f ig no ra nc e.

In a l l of these cases i s poss ib le to consider

ou rse lv es as being the absent e n t i t y. This can ocour

both as the discovery of a presen t condi t ion and as a

p o s s i b i l i t y i n the futureo The necess i ty of discover ing

onese l f to be i n such s t r a i t s i s dic ta ted by the OCCi l l . -

renee o f absence and our ab i l i ty to kllOloj of i t Han i s

a being who i s on h is wayo Because he i s on h is w a y ~

he i s always array from t h a t vrhich he encounters . Even

a t the moment of the encounter he knows he i s on b is waYt

and thus the p o s s i b i l i t of absence may j .nfuse t h i s

momentary presence . That w hich he encounters i s thus

always away from hi m and ~ world becomes charac te r i zed

by abs8nc e From the po 8i tioD. of tho se t h i n g s ~ T h l c ha re

absent , and of which he i s yront to assume the p o s t t i o u ,

i s he Irho i s absen t an.d they dho a r e p r e s e J t ~Becau.se

they a re always ackno 11edged in h is p a t h ~they are t h O S t ~

th ings vrh1ch X t:side upon anc t by the


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re f lec t ing to become l o s t o t i s as t h a t which i s l o s t

o r absent from what i s present t h a t man experiences him=

s e l f as absento This i s no t mere w y f r i n g ~which occurs

i n the midst of a journey, but i s being i n such separa=

t i on from o n e ' s path t ha t i s no longer v i s ib l e o

What we are concerned with i s the considera t ion

given these pa r t i cu l a r types of p h n o m n ~which are i n

themselves very s t range , by a p a r t i c u l a r group o f people

We must seek to f ind out t h e i r re la t ionsh ip w ith the p h ~

nOIDeua i n question.. I w i l l consid er the Tays i n vThich

absence appears and i s approached p r io r to the ac tua l

encounter.. This w i l l be d i \ ~ l l g e dby the not ion and a n a i -

ys i s of the en t i t y i t se l f . . Fina l ly th e A dv ait in conception

o f ' ihat happens' dur ing our acknowledgement of absence w i l l

be considered.. The t r a d i t i o n s t a t e s t ha t i n an y ins tance

o f knowledge the re i s a knower, the th ing known an d thecogni tion., f w i l l take the i n i t i a l OOgIli t lon , flI am

confronted by absence , an d examine i n t h i s my.

There are t iT types o f contexts i n which absence

i s discussec1 0 O n e ~ \vhich occurs in . 3 r ~ o7 1 2 0 1 1 ~ . 1 t

2 and T a i t . ~ , , ~2 7 ~i s the p o s s i b i l i t y of tlJ.e cosmos

a r i s i ng from noth ingness Impl ic i t ly ' t h i s involve : l the

poss ib i l i t y o f death being t t a l absence, which means

t t m t ou r e x l s t e n c e i s snrro'tJ.llded by (covered \ r i th l l C i t r r L o g ~


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on

o f

5

ness . HIn the beginning nothing iihatsoever yras here

This ( roTId) vTaS covered over 1'uth death, rritl1 hunger

fo r hu:n.ger i s death u The . Y : l ~ f f p : t a . - : ~ a r i b J l a s ic l a s s i f i e s

t h i s as a t ex t which se t s for th absolute r ea l i ty I t s

va l id i ty occurs i n teacbing the i den t i ty of the ind iv idua l

s e l f ru th B r a ~ ~ a n < > 3The va l id i ty of a l l means of know=

ledge, i t says, except fo r A g a ~(verbal testimony) only

obtains i n conventional r e a l i t y We find the employment

both ty pes of r e a l i t y even in Sankara's cornnentaries

these passages

The other context of absence i s the B h ~ g ~ ~ a ~ = G I ~

i n 1 Thioh Arjuna, perplexed by contemplating the futu-ee

b a t t l e discovers t ha t he i s lost He perceives immanent

chaos by the ann: lhi la t ion o f those i n b a t t l e I n the

at tempt to gain. rThat. i s absent tln ough the des t ruc t ionof others , he f inds t ha t h is exis tence i s f u t i l e

2BrioU., v 1 .2 0 1 , i n R. E. Hume, t rans an d e d o ~T h e = ~ ~ E J . . . 1 l 9 J Q . a L . L ~ ~ 8 ; . . ~(2nd ed . , rev ised ;Madras: Oxford Univers i ty Press , 1965), 7 1 ~

3 -- - - d ~ v a E i n d r ~D h a r m a r a j a ~ ~ 3 ~ T i b h a 9 ~trans. , S l ' i a m ~f Iadhavananda (Belur i.-iath, t HOI/Tab.:Swami V i m u . k t a l 1 a n d a ~1963) po 150 0

~ O o m p a r e O h ~ U .SoB., v. 6 2 1 i n ~ f i t r aand

C o w e l l ~t r a n s ~ h f J l ~ I ~ ~ ~ J 1 C ~ E ~ ~ ~ ~ d sI I I(Aclyar, l ad ra s : Theo sophic;.a1 Publishing H o u s e ~ 5 32PPo 191-193) wi th Br i .Uo , S.B q Vo 1.2, ,1 1 I n SwamiN a d h a v a n a n d a ~t r c n ~; r ~ ~ . ~ ~ , & r h a 1 ~ ~ : r ~ a l b E . E ~ ~U ~ l i @ 2 - -f ~ ~ hj i J . 1 ~ ~ Q . E : ' . : L ? n ~ 3 . : . t : L q J. ' ? ~ g 1 f : : : : . ~ ~ g . ' ~ I . ~(l laya v a t l Almora, H 1 m a ~ ~layas: Ad ,, cd t a Ashr-am2. 1950) J 2 0 ~ 2 5 .See a lsoOhapter IV, S ection 4, p. 43 h e r e i i l ~


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6

Alas we have resolved to commit agrea t s i n ~ inasmuch as we are endeavotrring to s lay our kinsmen out o f a cravingfo r the pleasures of dominion.

t would be be t t e r fo r me i thesons of D h f t a r a s h ~ r a ~with arms i n hand,should slay meSuuarmed and u n r e s i s t i ngi n the bat t lee

\-lhile acknoi'rledging the contradic t ion o f a l l p o s s i b i l i t i e s

he took leave o f choice and quest ioned

My hear t contaminated by the t a i n t o fhe lp lessness my mind confounded aboutDharma I ask Thee: Tel l me what i sabsolute ly g o o d ~ I am Thy p u P ~ l e I n s t r u c tme who have sought Thy grace.

I n th e poss ib i l i t y of h is ovm a nn ih i l a t i on , besieged by

the negatio n of a l l t ha t c ons t i t u t e s h i s YTOrlcl he r e p l i es

by a r e fu sa l to concur 1n th des t ruc t ion : t I 1 1ill not

f i g h t 7

5Sastrill Ao M a h 8 ; d ~ v at ransoh ~ ~ ~ J ~ a v a . : : ~wtth.-tlle C e 9 ~ ? n t 8 : . ' Y ~~ ~ } k ; 3 r ~ S h ~ a(::>th ed . , t ; ~ a d r a s :V RamaSi lamy Sas t ru lu an d S o n s ~1901), vv. 1. 45... 46; pu 17

6 ~ l 1 p 2,,7, p. 21.

7 I 9 ~ ~ ov. 2.9,


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VARIOUS OONCEPTIONS OF ABSIDfOE

1 R. u .vi e

There have been many Indian Viel1points on the

s ign i f icance of absence an d the natlITe of our encounter

with i to In the Navya=Nyaya school absence was developed

i n to a highly t echn ica l means of argumentat ion by t rea t ing as a d i s t i n c t r e l i t y In the Samkhya and Prabhakara

MImamsa sohools was of l i t t l e importance. Buddhism

has t rea ted extensively so much so t ha t to inc lude

a summary o f i . t would be misleading t bes t . Nonetheless

Saukara argues vehemently ag a i n s t the Buddhist pos i t ion

an d h is o n e p t ~ o nmust be u nd er sto od to have taken t h e i rviews in to c c o u n t ~This study i s r e s t r i c t e d to the

AElvaita Vee anta account of absence. The comparison which

fol lows ~ s sole ly fo r the purpose of a s u ~ n r yd i f f e r e n ~

t i t i o n in the hope t h t other p o s s i b i l i t i e s fo r the

considerat ion of t h i s SUbject may be imagined and thus

del imit Sankara s viewpoint .

2 ~ : ~ c ~ c L l t ~ e l ; ya J l ] ; l J ? i i L k C L ~ ~ t i _ C l I

Fo r the ~ n k h y sand Prabhakara Mimamsas nOl1=

exis tence i s nothing but the bare loca t ion of the absence

or the locus per s e ~ Simi la r ly the n o n ~ e x i s t e n eof

7


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one th ing i n another or the f a c t t h a t on e th ing i s no t

another means the mere exis tence of t h a t hich i s present

The problem o f doing or b eco min g o ne th ing as opposed to

another ceases to be of concern f t e r the decis ion fo r

the f a c t of onels non-exis tence as another i s incompre

hensi.ble Prabhakara claims tha t d i r ec t apprehension

involves the cogni t ion of th ree fac to rs : the objec t

the sub jec t which i s apprehending the objec t and the

ac t of apprehension o For exam.ple, see my kinsmen

i s a d i r ec t apprehension There i s no objec t o f cogni t ion

i n the case o f absence and hence no d i r e c t kuoT, lledge 8

o say t ha t one only knows of the bare ground

and not o f the absence of kinsmen i n the same d i r e c t way

as the ground sneaks by the fac t s For in expla in ing

t h i s ground which on e sees completely barren o f kinsmen

one has to say t ha t t i s ground and also i s bare which

i s to say the re i s a n o n ~ x i s t nof kinsmen on i t

Even the ground were covered with t r i b e s one would

s t i l l not ice the absence of kinsmen. Explaining i n any

way about the coglli t i on of something which i s missing

i n terms of the simple presence of t h i s or t ha t i s m p o s ~

s i b l e e

8


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3 e 1 1 . . ~ < 2 . ~ ~ ~ E 1 . . J l ~ ~ ~ i l i

yaya accordingly t r e a t s absenoe a s something

o t h e r than the things which are presento Absence i s

th e same order o f r e a l i t y a s the loca t ion i n whioh t

occurs an d i s separable from where t appears . o w e v e r ~

t i s only blown through the loca t ion ioeo perce iv

ln g the loca t ion an d through i t the absence which i s

a t t ached to t and q u a l i f i e s i t Hence absence must

be known through the r e l a t i o n of the loca t ion to theabsenceo I t i s knovffi by the same ins t rwnent the re fore

as the l o c t i o n ~namely percept ion.

For Nyaya the knowledge of man i s no t e t e rna l o

t i s the product of causes an d operat ions which may

be analyzed. The n o n ~ e x i s t e n tth ing must be of the same

order o f r e a l i t y a s the loca t ion i n which t

i s perceivedo r e lse the percep t ion o f t could no t be impl ied by th e

percep t ion Q i i t s l o ca t i on . The sense which peroeives

th e loca t ion oomes in to a r e l a t i o n w i th non=existence

11111ch.characterizes th e loca t ion through the sense I s

r e l a t i o n to the loca t ion . Thus in perce iv ing the absence

o f kinsmen on the f i e l d v perceive f l r s t the f i e ld

and then the absence. o perceive the absence we must

be ab le to perceive th e r e l a t i on of t h ~ absent kinsmen

to the f ie ld ~ 8 . ~ ? ~ i L . 2 )through the i n d i r e c t r e l a t i o n

o f our senses with absence v ~ s ~ ~ . ~ ~ .This changed


22/109

10

s o m e ~ h a ti n the N a v y a ~ N y a y a .We thus perceiv e the f i e l d

as q ua l i f ied by a b s e n c e ~and not simply the f ac t of a

f i e l d and an absenceo

The already apparent complexity of t h i s ana lys i s

o f absence i s increased i n the l t e r schools of log ic ians .

u t wh t must be kept j.11 mind i s th e d i f f i u l t y t r ea t ing

th e concept and y et the f ac t t ha t vms undertaken i n

con t r a -d i s t i nc t i on to the Prabhakara an d S a ~ c h y aschools .

The main problem fo r Nyaya was i n i t s concept of r e l a t i on s a m b a n d h ~ )which was also co nsid ere d to be a d i s t i n t

r e l l ty . .Sankara at tacked t h i s concept i n h is commentary

on the V ~ d a ~ ~ _ ~ i r ~2 . 2 . 1 7 . To pos i t the r e l a t i o n

o f a qual i ty to i t s l oca t i on as a separate entitY7 he

says , invo lves one i n an i n f i n i t e r eg ress of r e l a t i ons

r e l a t i n g r e l a t i ons .U a v y a ~ N y a y aattempted to escape from t h i s problem

i n s e v e r a l I-Tays. A ll th ings arekno \ ln as re la ted to

other t p ~ n g sand any ent i ty can be analyzed as being

i n re la t ionsh ip to something e l s e . 9 g anything

i n t h i s world o f in div ld ua ls may be taken as re la ted

to anythlng (same or d i f f e r e n t ) , no matter hOlT involved,

9 The sentence IIX i s the f a the r of yll i s analyzedi n terms of the r e l t i o n of fatherhood, where occursand vrhat i s the condit: t.on by 1 rh1ch occurs , as fol lows:The r e l a t i o n o f fatherhood) r e s iden t i n X o r having Xas i t s sUbjUJlct ~ ~ u ~ l n )and condi M.oned. b y Y o rhaving Y as i t s adjullctTurativog:i .n)) 0 cEo i;f8.tilal, B ~ K.,

~ - ~ , . ~ - . , ~ ~ , - . ; ~ ~ . . : I

T ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ av x a ~ Y ~ l ~D < ? ~ 9 J ? i l 1 : - : 1 .o _ : t ; ~ l ? : ~ i L ~ : Oamb ri dg e, 1 968 ) 9 :po 33.


23/109

11

i n d i r e c t or s t range the r e l a t i o n may turn out to be. fllO

v y ~ y ythen explained t ha t one such r e l a t i o n i s

the ~ e s s en t i a l r e l a t i o n and t h i s i s charac

t e r i z ed by not being d i f f e r e n t from i t s r e l a t a o There

are th ree kinds o f s ~ r u r e l a t i ons on e o f which i s

p ecu l i a r to an absence, io e o abhaViy-a visesana ta . l 1 . . _ = ~ Thus Navya-Nyaya maintained t h a t absence was

a separa te en t i t y an d was known percep tua l ly, bu t i n i t s

div i s ion of r e a l i t i e s was forced in to a l o g i c a l gymnast i c s to explain the f a c t t h a t th ings appear r e l a t ed o

The problem o f o n e s e l f being tha t which i s l o s t and

may become absen t i s p ecu l i a r l y preserved i n the idea

o f absence as a separa te en t i t y with a spec ia l r e l a t i o n .

But the problem la y i n r e la ti n g t h a t 1fhich was no t to

t h a t which was o Datta expla ins t h i s problem i n termso f the p ro p os it io na l lo g ic which l a t e r Nyaya was concerned

th.. I t a ss er te d th at a l l l 1 ropos i t i o ns shovled th e

r e l a t i o n of su b jec t to predicateo This can be seen

i n i t s more re f ined ana lys i s o f p ro p os it io n s. The Ve=

d a n t i s t was concerned to a na ly ze e xp er ie nc e an d always

considered judgements i n the context of the exper ience

to which they referrec1 c Thus some s ta tements may merely

c orre ct e rro rs or i l l u s i o n s eogO? t b i s rope i s no t

lOMat i la l pe 310

l l I b i d o p . 4


24/109

12

a snakeI . I t vTOuld cont rad ic t the i n t en t o f the s t a t e -

ment to analyze t as meaning t h i s rope bas an absence

o f snake .

The pos t -Sankar i t e account o f absence developed

pr imar i ly i n opposi t ion to the Nyaya account. Whereas

absence was (o r could be ) e t e rna l fo r Nyaya, t was not

fo r Advaita o The knowledge of absence fo r Advaita, al though

t was c al le d p er ce pt ua l knowledge; was known by means of

For Nyaya t was ku01n1 by percept ion.

Bhat ta MI mamsa and Advaita Vedanta ~ _ l : _ ~ ~

The PUrva irnamsa o f KUIll8. rila Bhat ta an d Vedanta

picked up the problem of the r e l a t i o n o f absence and pre -

sence, an d i n so doing attem pted to resolve the misery of

absence. They disagreed ~ n t hNyaya with regard to the

r e a l i t y o f r e l a t i ons an d non-exis tence, as wel l as i n themeans o f knowing non-exis tence. There i s no way by which

reGan t r e a t negat ive f ac t s a s pos i t i ve fao ts , nor through

th e p erc ep tio n of pos i t i ve f a c t s e s t ab l i sh negat ive f ac t s .

t ~ o t be understood how non-exis tence can be re la ted

e i t h e r ~ d t hi t s locus o r w ith sense . Therefore the only

re la t ionsh ip must occur i n knowledge i t s e l f and the know-ledge o f an absen t ent i ty must occur a pecu l i a r means

o f knowledge other than the senses . This i s the founda

t i on o f non-apprehension ~ n u ~ l a b d h i ,the cause of the

knowledge of absence. Advaita Vedanta agrees w ith the


25/109

13

B h a ~ t aschool about th e means o f Imowledge i n most respec ts . 12

An absence has no independent exis tence from i t s loca t ion

and must be o f something i n par t icular. . Non-apprehension

i s a means of lcnowledge (manam) with reference to th e ob jec t

n e g a t ~ d o 3But a l l presences, must be remembered,

occur i n some loca t ion and must be pa r t i cu l a r. Absence

and p re se no e o cc ur Quder the same c ir cu m st an ce s, a lt ho u gh

i s the absence which demonstrates the unrea l i ty o f

phenomena. This i s important and d i f f i c u l t to unders tand,

par t iCUlar ly vath the pecu l i a r sense o f immediacy which an

absence can have. Sanlcara i s a v ~ r eof t h i s problem fo r

he says , Brabman t> seems to the slow o f mind no more

than non=being ,,14

_ ~ ~ r _ ~ . ~ a a_ _l2 1n f ac t , Advaita Vedanta i s indebted i n most

respec ts to the PUrva Mlmamsa fo r i t s development o f thefour fo ld d iv is io n o f absence and the unique means ofknovdng (anupalabdlrl.) . Indeed i s said t h a t i t i sa pr inc ip l e t h a t - r rn-8rnpir ical usage the path o f the h a ~ ~ a i ~ followed) I . Bhara t i t i r t h a The . [i v a r c ~ l . a -~ ~ a ~ ~ a ~ ~ n g r ~ rt r a n s . S. S. Suryanarayana Sas t r i andSailesvrar Sen TKumba1conam: S r i Vidya Press , 1 9 L ~ 1 p. 470

13Radhalcrishilan, Indian Phi.lo soph;y Ne1i r York:The Macmillan Oompany, 19b2), I I

l 4 Ib i C e I I 538; quoted from Oh.JL., :30B., v. 8.1 .1


26/109

THE POSITION OF ABSENOEIN THE APPROAOH TO ITS UNDERSTANDING

1 P l r v i ~

In asking a f t e r a phenomenon and hOi. the enCOlm.

t e r wi t h i s to be accounted f o r Te must at tempt to

de l inea te the approach to i t I n t h i s way a t l e a s t we

can discover what was the background of the experience

o f the encounter. In our case we ask what the condi t ion

and acoess route was of those who are giving the account.

OlIT problem and t h e i r s i s to give an account of the

phenomenon of absence. We want to know the na ture of

OUX knOWledge an d of what i s

2.. The Student~ _ o a : : > : :

Knowledge and. the des i r e fo r i-s the cen t r a l

focus o f the s tudent des i r ing release. . Oonsidering the

means o f knowledge and t h a t whi.ch i s to be knorin i Tas

undertaken during the oourse of study ( ~ r a v a n a ) ~deep

medi t a t ion l l . t 1 . i c l h : L a . 3 t l l ~ )

or de l i bera t ion( p - a n a n ~ ) ,

f o r i s by these t ha t kno rleclge occurs o 15 Thus the

15.Sas t r i Ananta Krishna; ed Brahm.asutra=~ ~ a ~ B J l a s h ~ E hPar t I I I of 9 ~ ~ 1 2 . ~ t ; . as ~ ~ ~ t ~

~ 1 1Qalcu t ta : The Metropol i tan Pr in t i ng and pub=l i s b i n g House Ltd . 1941 7 p. 10


27/109

15

understanding of types of knowledge and t h e i r appropria te

objec t s must occur i n the r equ i s i t e condi t ions fo r being

a s tudent .

There are four necessary condi t ions fo r knowledge

to ob tain an d they a re character ized by a r e so lu t e open-

ness to whatever may be the case . Although these condi-

tions 1 1 ere held i n mo s t of the t r a d i t i o n a l systems the

Vis is tadva i ta o f Ramanuja did not t h ink these were necessary.

The f i r s t i s to be able to d i s t i ngu i sh b et we en w ha t i s t rue

an d f a l s e or what i s the same e t e rna l and n o n ~ e t e r n l

The second condi.tion i s ind i ffe rence o r l ack o f concern fo r

everything t ha t may be obta ined through certain means e i the r

on ea r th or i n heaven. The p erc ep tio n o f absence then

wJ_ll not o ~ c u runder the aeg is of the des i re fo r t ha t

which could be presen t but t s not . I f i t occurs i t

w i l l no t occur as an imposi t ion on exis tence any morethan the percept ion o f presen t ob jec t s o The externa l i ty

o f both present ob jec t s and absen t objec t s must thus

be of the same order o f r e a l i t y The th i rd condi t ion

i s to be in co ntro l o f onese lf unres t r ic ted by concern

fo r self enhancement. Here there a re many q u a l i t i e s

which could be discussed a l l o f which a re fo r the sakeof a bs ol ut e r es o lv e to be open only to 1 1 hat i s t r ue

no matter how long or f u t i l e the e f f o r t may seem Some-

t imes these a re enumerated as the s ix noble q u a l i t i e s .

i s said t ha t th e i n t e r n a l aspect of them t h a t i s

oners comportillGnt towards knOWledge i s the most important


28/109

16

as opposed to t h e i r ex te rna l manifestatiollo The f i r s t

1 s t r anqu i l i t y or equanimity in the face of the world

~ l ~ ~ con t ro l o f th e mind. i s se l f=cont ro lover the sellses. ~ _ ~ k ~ h ~i s fo r t i t ude or endurance

i n the face of advers i ty. i s th e cessa t ion o fa l l manipulat ive ac t i on s . 16 Sometimes cal led r n u n ~

e i a t i o n i s d i s t i n c t from t h i s a cco rd in g to the

e ~ a n t ~ r i h ~because means es sen t i a l l y the absence o f d i s t r ac t i ons .

17 h r ~ ~ hi s f a i t h i n onels

t eacher and the u lt im a te e ff ic ac y o f onels exer t ions

fo r knoi Tledge. ~ a m a d h a n ~i s a t t en t ion to what i s a t

hand. The four th concli t i on i s an in tense des i re to be

f ree from the bondage of i ~ l o r a n c ean d the th ree pre -

vious cond i t ions a r e supposed to s t imula te t h i s des i re

. 3 li l;Q e t;1ji oJ l a ld Before inqUir ing in to the need fo r enumeratingthese qua l i t i e s and t h e i r importance fo r our inqUiry

we s ho ul d p ur su e the not ion of bondage a b i t more. To

des i re the end o f ig no ran ce i s to f e e l bound i n i t .

This w:tll be discussed fu r the r a t the end of Chapter

16 See Tattwananda Swami, t r a n s . h ~ 9 ~ l n t e ~ 2 e Y e ~ ~ I ~ = o f . _ ~ c . h ~ t ~ ~ ~ I a(P.Oo Kalady Kerala S ta t e :S ri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama 1960 2 7 ~ 3 8 .

]7 g po 221.


29/109

17

To f ee l bound i s to f e e l c o n s t r a i n e d ~t h a t i s held i n

something which does no t sa t i s fy The most thorough

bondage occurs when the mind no longer s t r a i n s a t i t s

bonds but fee l s bound nonetheless A deep s e t lo s s o f

i n t r i g u e and des i r s g where r e p e t i t i o n does not - l ead to

a eve r deepening knowledge g 8h01 1S i t s e l f as boredom.

I t i s the purposeless r e p e t i t i o n of events ( th ings p r ~

sen t ing and absen t ing themselves) which l eads to the f l ~

ing o f bondage i n the f i r s t place S t i l l t i s only

i n d i s i n t e r e s t t h a t one can look beyond what one iden-

t i f l e s one ' s e xis te nc e w ith and ask what should be,

wi th a c lea r conscience Ultimate d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n does

not come in f a i l u r e bu t i n b o r e d o m ~Rebi r th has to be

understood i n the sense t h a t the re i s no h i s to ry and

t h e r e f o r e there. i s j u s t endless coming to be and pass ing

away o f the se l f -same th ings . lS Hence the most one

could expect i s merely to a ~ ed i f f e r e n t d u t i e s which

one could be aware of in any b i r t h . The goal o f Vedanta

i s no t happiness on ear th or heaven (abhyuclaya) but

l8 For a Westerner ydth the idea of h i s to ry r e b i r t hseems to be almost an a t t r a c t i v e p o s s i b i l i t y Can even conceive o f boredom without the c o n c e ~ to f his to ryand a h i s t o r i c a l pro j ec t? That i s can l of the - lestconceive of boredom a s anything bu t the absence o f h is to ry ?But t h i s i s an n t i r l ~separa te l i n e o f i n q u i r y - i ' rhichdraw s us fa r a f i e l d g fo r the i d e a of his to ry never seemsto ha vo 0 ccurred to th e IucUans. Ba r edom oem be conceived o f as simply a p a i n f u l l ack of i n t e r e 8 t I n t h i sS01:) ; 36 i t o.oeZj1 t m a t t e r \ 'rhether t h e r e h i s t o r y o r not 6


30/109

fr eed om from r e b i r t h n i ~ . s r e y a s a ). 19 Boredom becomes

a p o s s i b i l i t y tlu. ough the fulf:i . l lment o f the f t r s t th ree

condi t ions because of the r e j ec t i on of a l l p o s s i b i l i t i e s

obta inab le i n the world or i n heavell o As a p r e ~ c o l l d i t i o n

fo r lcnovrledge. the world has been negated as a so lu t ion

The paradox o f the most in tense des i re fo r k n o w ~

ledge a r i s ing y ~ t i nthe le thargy ofboredoffi can only

be e xp la in ed th ro ug h the s t a t e of openness to knowledgeo

Desire i s an tagonis t i c to knOWledge the ~ ~ ~ ~ QJ2.alli sa.:. says .20 HOI Tever t boredom s t i l l regards the world and thus be t rays i t s e l f through the pa infu l lack

o f des i r e . t i s the des ire for a non repe t i t ious s t a t e

o f being. Being Qnaffected by d es ire o r i t s opposi te

i s thus the most des i rab le s t a t e Bu t the problem i s

to avoid the i n ~ i l i t yto i nq u i r e and to remain a t the

same t ime open to any answer.

For an y qu estion or any anSI Tel s i ted we must

al low a negat ion. One must be prepared fo r no so lu t ion

or a dismal so lu t ion . The absence of p r ed i spos i t i on s

means eXis t ing a t a lOSS que l l ing a t every moment the

g rasp in g fo r r e so lu t i on . There may be no end to our

18

p . 9 ~


31/109


32/109

I I I

NEG A 1 1ION: THE FUNCTION OF ABSENOE

9 J : e : l : i t ~

To re fuse the world we must a nnib:i late i to But

how i s i t poss ib le to negate something? I s a mat te r

o f imagination or an app l i ca t i on o f the memory o f other

absences? Negation i s the b ig gest argument fo r saying

t h a t the mind and there fore man s t ruc tu r e s and makes

h is world but we can observe f a i r l y eas i ly how much

man im i t a t e s t ha t which he encounters

I t i s of ten extremely he lpfu l to have l t r n ~

t i v e s both objec t s and concepts i n order to see the

s t ruc tu re of something The a l t e r n a t i v e represen ta t ion

o f the same objec t shows us i t s s t ruc tu r e as t ha t which

answers to qu estio ns The discovery of how to ask ques-

t i ons i s extremely important and d i f f i c u l t I t gives

us a t oo l by which to uncover our exis tence Yet ques-

t i on ing seems to be an addi t ion to what i s already i n

the world fo r in each case hypothesizes the non-

ex i s t en t I t def ines areas o f lack ing knowledge We

understand something in p ar tic ula r to the ex ten t t h a t

remains absent from everything e lse Yet what

i s i s only not iceab le in the context o f i t s s imi l a r i t y


33/109

to something

I t seems to be necessary to percelve a s t r u c t u r e ~

o r the p o s s i b i l i t y of on e t before i s poss ib le to beginnegat ing This s t r u c t u r a l substratum may be equivalent

to the coherent cont inUity o f exis tence in which any

absence i s p p r e h e n d e d ~Negation ex i s t s then from a

grasping 1uth in exis tence fo r t ha t which s h a l l not

grasp. In i t s not obtaining shows to us t he u n o ~

t a i nab l e within the l i m i t s o f what may obtain.. Thus

p re su pp os es th e percept ion o f s imi l a r i t y. Bu t pure

s imi l a r i t y of th ings i s complete i den t i t y or t o t a l n O l l =

d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n . We cou ld n t perceive anything i n t h i s

s ta te . . In our experience th ings must be cu t o ff from

each other.. h ~ rex i s t t h a t way through t h e i r mutual

nega t ions i n th e world.

Each objec t mainta ins i t s e l f through the absence

o f o thers i n i t Bu t s t i l l th ings bei:n g t o t a l l y n ll

s i mi l a r would mean a chaos o f p er ce pt io ns w it h no c o n ~

t i n u i t y This would be t o t a l incoherence. Yet the

supposi t ion o f knowledge i s the p o s s i b i l i t y o f coherence

I s man then the on e who d i f f e r e n t i a t e s or i s the world

a l ready di ffe ren t i a . ted? Or i s t t ha t a co gni t5 on as

a judgement ne i the r adds nor sub t rac t s from r e a l i t y ?

Tbat i s ~ i n as se r t t ng what i s k n o y m ~a judgement achieves

21


34/109

sometb:.i.ng new only fo r thought o 22

Negation presents i t s e l f to us in two ways i n

Vedanta: i n the 1a : f of contrad.iot ion and the concept

o f sublat iono We I f i l l f ind d i ff e ren t i a t i on by name

and form creat ing the background fo r th e o pe ra tio n of

these tYiO forms o f negat ion as they revea l i l l u s i o n to

us The concept of i l l u s i o n extends i t s e l f through

an ana lys i s o f s leep and r e a l i t y as what i s n o t t h i s ,

u n t i l by a n ac t of double negat ion we are l e f t with

Brahmane

2 0 i . o : . 2 : 1 L . U l 1 ~ a ~ L _ C 2 - n t r ~ ~ na ~ d _ ~ u ~ ~ 2 1

Several wo:cds appear i n the 1 i tera/Gure \ Thieh

22

caused to be driven away or restrained.e Ni v r t t i means = ~ ~ - a bs te nt io n or negat ing. In the V ~ ~ a ~ ~ r i b h a ~ ~i t

i s one of two kinds o f des t ruc t ion , the o th er being

b a ~ o ID:..YLllit here , means the c es sa tio n o f e ff ec t s

without the des t ruc t i on of the mater ia l cause o The

cause o f such cessa t ion i s the r i s e of a contrary mental

s t a t e new cogni t ionJ , or the removal o f defects csuch

as pink glassesJ , , 2 3 The two terms which seem to have

22Dat to D i~ J.VJ oi n Vedanta Phj.losophyll ,1929, ppo 264=2790

2 3 y < > ~

nThe Import of a Propos i t ion1 1.8 _I,:p.i l ~ l L o J E 1o ~ ~ : : ~e:r::u?


35/109


36/109

L

i t s v product p resen t or pas t , by t r ue 10101.rledge ,, 27

Two causes a re given fo r sub la t ion badha).. One, which

des t roys the mater ia l cause ~ y ~ ,i s t ha t wInch i s

r e a l l y present.. The other, which dest roys the appet i te

fo r t ha t which i s unreal , i s the c O ~ 1 i t i o nof ~ h e absent

en t i ty This i s s ub ord in ate to the f i r s t cause accord

ing to Bhara t i t i r tha , ,28 The pri .nciple i s t ha t the effec t

i s contained i n the cause and thus Q ~ r e a lw ith re ga rd

to i t Dr Anima Sen Gupta expla ins t ha t ~ d h ~points

to a terminat ing poin t ( ~ - i l l ) . v[hen on e experience

i s negated by another exper ience , the re i s always the

r eve l a t i on of something 1 [h1ch i s more r e a l than th e

ob jec t of the negated experience,, 2 9 i s the f i n a lpercep t ion t ha t an objec t appeared only f a l s e ly with-

out having ha d .a r e a l exis tence. t i s the knowledge

o f i l l u s i o n 9 and also th e c r i t e r ion fo r t r u t h , a b a d h i t ~ Y ~ ,

the non-contradic tedness o f cognit ion

2 7 V ~ tpo 830

28rb ido , po 83

29Gupta , r lio S q ,HAdvait.a Vedanta and Samkhyaon Erroneous Percep t ion , The Ved:a r. .ta Kasa r i lvladras:S ri Ramakrishna Math ll S e p t : - ; = = f 9 b 8 } 7 = ' ~ ~ ~ - =


37/109

25

l i ~ l l l ~ a l l ~

The d.ist i l1ction of things which may be st blated

occurs i n Vedanta by language and percept ion name and

form) Yet because o f the necess i t y o f ob jec ts o f k n o w ~

ledge, the cause of subla t ion must be the things t m ~

selvese Because we f ind absence and presence occurring

equal ly i n language, i s mysterious why one aspec t

of rlhat we perceive should be more or l e s s rea l For

i n a l l events we f ind d i f f i c u l t to know the cause o fwhat can only be known as name and form o

Brahman becomes the bas i s of the apparent world,

which i s cont inua l ly changing, by th e element of pIll.

r a l i t y which Sankara says i s character ized by name an d

form ~ ~ ~ o i s a t l e a s t one b as is fo r the

or ig ins of absence. F u r t h e r m o r e . the d i s t i n c t i o no f names and forms, th e f i c t i o n o f Nescience, or ig ina tes

en t i r e ly from speech only .30 The instru_ment . for th e

proclamation of speech i s Brahman,,31 Speech i s what

b ri ng s c og ni ti on to thought and to cognize anything we

must see as a p a r t i c u l a r quali tyo Whatever l known

i s a form of the organ of speech, fo r i s the knovTero 3

3 y o ~ oS o B ~V O 2 0 1 c27 9 vol I ~ 352 03 ~ Y ~ ~ O fSoBo 9 v. 101 0 4, vol . I 32 G3 2 B ~ J r j lV O 105.8 9 p. 218


38/109

Yet the aim of lalowledge i s to know the cause of the

th ing . H e r e ~by cause we don ' t mean the end for which

i s meant l i mean t ha t from \rh10h or ig ina tes ,

i t s substance This concern for the substratum of , hat

i s d i ffe ren t i a t ed w i l l help exp lain th e Yedantic analys is

26

of absence the substance i s i n each case o ~

nised by means of the qual i ty; the l a t t e r therefore has

i t s Se l f in the substance 33 hen we see a t ab le , we

see the t ab leness of t ha t substance.. le a re unable to

see the substance per se When we see an absence ...... ?

Language d i f f e r e n t i a t e s , separates , an d presents to us

an aspec t i n exis tence and a qua li ty o f something other

Words are connected e te rna l ly, j.n Advo.i t a v i t h

the species which they denote and i s spec ies , not

ind iv iduals t h a t words denote .. The p a r t i c u l a r i t y whichmanifests i n any ordinary usage of the word seems to be

a product o f the substance which we a re unable to see.

We f ind, even in our acknowledgement of absence, a seeing

i n names, for we see in i nex t r i cab le connection rd th a

word which denotes an a t t r i b u t e . When we t ry to see

through the \ lord, fo r example t a b l e lie may then noticethe wood of the t ab le , i t s shape and measurements We

may take apar t , n ot ic in g n uts and screws or we may

S ~ o V 2 .2 17, vo 1 9 3950


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27

t ake apa r t the w o o d ~not ic ing th e grain etcc We a r e i n

an i n f i n i t e regress o f q u a l i t i e s and a t t r i bu t e s0 Sub-

s tance t h e n ~i s unascer ta inab le i n language fo r language

d i f f e r en t i a t e s . . Thus: being i n acc e s s ib l e to speech ,

Brahman, the KnO ilable, i s de f i ned in a l l Upanishads only

by a d en ia l o f a l l s p e c i a l t i e s ~~ = Not t h u s (Br i . Up.

2-3=6) and no t gross , not s u b t l e 121, 3 8 ~ 8 ~ i n

th e terms I t i s no t t h i s I tr .34

At t r i bu t e s perceived a re universa l s and i t i s

these which negate th e p a r t i c u l a r occasion by presen t ing

p o s s i b i l i t i e s o (To perce ive the subs t an t i a l requ i res

another s o r t o f nega t i on . ) I t i s through language that;

a p o s s i b i l i t y i s perceived i n a c t u a l i t y This p o s s i b i ~

l i t y presen t s a f u tu r e absence (o f what i s now) by th e

nega t ion o f a ClITrent s t a t e o f a f f a i r s (What w i l l be done).

le a l l Y now from observa t ion t h a t 8 ny one when s e t ~

t i n g about some th ing i Thich h e1 llsh es to accompl ish f i r s t

remembers the word denoting th e th ing , and a f t e r t ha t

s e t s to worke n This se l f -con ta ined a sp ec t o f exp ec t-

3J+

n

13 2 3 h

~ g ; . S.B. , v.

p i : Je

35 v s., S.B e , V. 1 .3 0 28 1 vol . I , 20+. There i s ac e r t a t n amount of con ten t ion i n the l i t e r a t u r e as to he=t h e r th e w6rld c o n s i s t ~of j u s t n a ~ e sand forms o r names,forms and ac t i ons . c f . Bri .U. 1.6 .1) The V.P.S. notest h i s and reconc i les th e t w o ~ ysaying t h a t V e d ~ n t i n s admi t t h r - l e ~ f o l d n e s so r tl TQ fo ldness . (name and form andact1.on or name and fo rm) (V. P. S. pe + I th ink t h i smerging o f expec t ancy, possl td . r r ty and a c t i o n i n l ang ua geh e lp s to exp la in the admission by Adva i t a of both thetv-/O=foldness and t h r e e = f o l d n e s s o f th e m li verse .


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a n c y ~which -vTOrds evoke on each ocoasion, leads us i n to

d e l L l S i O l l ~

The d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of forms invar iab ly de

pends on the manifestat:iol1 of t h e t r names , sailkara

36explains.. Thus th e 110 r Ie l a r is e s c h a ra c te r is ti c al ly

out of language 0 Bu t the meaning o f a word i s the image

conveys to the mlnd.. In t b i s sense i s form p fo r

. form can also mean a Ifay of being\) e ~ o a form o f ao-

t iv i ty. . Thus i s sa id , One of these two i s the grea t -

e r , namely Form; q,r_o I T ~ v e J Z~ i 1? Jl 2:me ~ n ~ ~ ~

Cemphasis mine: f 37 ~ t r y y ~confronts us on eaoh con

t a c t l i th eX:i.stence, an d there fore th e ground may not

appear.. The p o s s i b i l i t y o r otherness inherent i n t r ~ s

world thus or ig ina tes from ~ ~ r ~ ~and conceals.,38

For in so f a r as they are names they a re untru.e;

i n so fa r as they are clay they are true ,1139

28

36 ' , S B e II Y 2 0 4,,lO, po 362 37Eggeling, JOt t r ans , T h e ~ ? a t a ~ ~ t h a B l ~ F ~

Par t V, vol XLIV o f Sacred Books of the ~ e l h il l iot i lal Banars idass , I 9 D b - ; - ~ p 7 - 2 8 7 = = - = ~ ~

38 A b s e n c e ~as occurr ing i n n ~ ~ ~I m a i n t a i n ~r e v e a l s t h i s cOl1ceallng struct.u:ce because seems topose a form 1n something t h a t J.S 1:;1 t h o u t form (e g th eabsence of a cha i r in the room .


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29

l ~ l l h f ~

Advaita models i t s metaphysical r e a l i t y on

th e s t r uc tu r e o f i l l u s io n . 4 Adhya s8; i l l u s ion ) means

placing upon or erroneous predicat io l l ,and i s defined by

~ n r a s t he a pp ar en t p re se nt at io n , in the forni o f

remembrance, to consciousness o f something previously

observed, i n some o t h e r th ing to r place:t. i141 I t occurs

by the s u b j e c t ~ p r e d i c t er e l a t i on , and because the sub=

j e c t cannot be a pred ica te , par takes of the inadequacy

o f language l Thich has a l ready been discussed. I l l u s i o n

i s the appearance o f something to be other than i s .

When appl ied to a d e f i n i t e area o f space, everything

which becomes or changes f a l l s tmder the category o f

i l l u s i o n ~fo r the reason t h a t what appeared no longer

appears In i t s t o t a l i t y i l l u s i o n appears a s change.I l l u so r ines s i s th e counter co r r e l a t e a l t e rna t e account

o:f t h e i l l u s i o n J o f abso lu te non=existence i n the locus

\ihere t n o n ~ e x i s t e n o e : l .has been cognizecL 42

The objec t of the i l l u s i o n o r non-exis tence

once the i l l u s i o n i s k n o ~ n 1i s ne i the r r ea l , nor u n r e l ~

d . V.... S.B Lrrcro. v o l ~I: ; ~

42 V p.s . , p . 81. Se e Ohapter I V ~pp. 51: = fo rexplalla t i o i r : = ~ ~


42/109


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31

- - - 47Bhara t i t i r t ha . I t conta ins the general idea of mul-

t i p l i c i t y but als0 9 i n the same vmy t h a t each par t ic .u lar

C01 -1 sugges ts the many COH S 1 l i th- tha t name, y

i s also used i n the sense o f abundance, i . e . denotes

t h a t There the re i s abundance o f what the or ig ina l lord

expresses . I48 In t h i S my each cow sugges ts the absence

of a l l other cows. But t h i s which cons i s t s o f name

and form i s presented by nescience ~ y i d ~ ,according, . 49

to Sankara. M a ~i s thus a s e l f ~ p r o j e c t i n gs t ruc tu r e

o f symbols which conceal r e a l i t y

~ h l a s ~ which i s the s t a t e o f the world, i s

caused by ~ v i ~ ~or m L ~and has the charac te r o f ~ ~ \ -

I l l u s ion can be a t t r i bu ted to the derangementkn

o f a sense o r g a n ~ ~but ord inar i ly i s acknowledged

by th e comprehension o f a p2.r t icular l o s s o f ignorance.This i s analyzed as follows.. F i r s t the l oca t i on th ing

o r place) i s cognized .. Then the i . l lusory percBpt s i l v e r

makes i t s appearance. There i s a poss ib i l i ty, then,

e i t h e r of a negat ive jUdgement t ha t the s i l v e r i s not

the lOCUS, or o f the non-apprehension of the s i l v e r

Fina l ly the negat ion of the i l l u s i o n i s accom.plished


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through the ackno\ iledgement o f the s h e l l 51 The cogni=

t i o n t ha t s i l v e r L ~ absent .from the locus i s an evidence

o f the sub la t ion of the presence o f s i lver. . o have the

experience o f i l l u s i o n which i s what tempts on e to say

t h a t exis tence i s unrea l p the knowledge o f absence as

wSl1 as o f presence ~ s necessary. Thus i s argued p

because of non-apprehens ion by those \vi thout defec t

ind because o f the sub la t ion an d (consequent) r e f l ec t ion p

th e i l l u s o r i n e s s alone of s i l v e r s tands to reason, not

i t s r e a l i t y. I t i s the s ix th means of knoi Tledge lvhich

makes i l l u s o r i n e s s known.

I l l u s i o n and the process of sub la t ion i s also

discussed i n the ana ly s i s of s leep . Four s t a t e s of con=

32

sc iousness are deduced: the waking, dreaming, deep s leep ,

and c o n s c i o u s n e ~ so f a l l th ree V i i ~ a ~ ~ ~ ~ . There i s a se r i e s o f subla t io l ls and in tegra=

t i ons of exper ience as one goes from the ~ i ~ ~to the

T i l l ~to the ~ s ta tes . . h e ~s t a t e i s sub-l a t ed and ShOl i l l to be an i l l u s i o n each t ime we wake up.

But 1s the s t a t e o f ~ ~ f i ~Which offe r s the s t r anges t

thou.ght: t h a t i s poss ib le to m O l i that. t he r e i s

nothing, know t h a t you knew an d know t h a t i t was

5 l See B h a t t a c h E q y y a ~p. 6

}Z~ pQ 81.


45/109


46/109

34

means the nega t ion of l l negat ions without the reap

pearance o f what was f i r s t negated. And i n t h i s v see

th e f ea r s of people who c r e a t e memorials of Lid ice an d

Auswi t z But wi th in t h i s process a cer ta1n amount o f

t r u t h becomes apparen t . Truth lIis determined through

superimpo s1 t ion and vii thdrawal . ) . J u s t a s s i l v e r

1 s superimposed on nacre mother of p e a r l ] , th e world

of t t r i b u t e s i s superimposed on the t t r i b u t e l e s s Brahman.

This i s adhyaropa. And j u s t a s s i l v e r i s cognised to be

non-ex i s ten t in nacre , the world o f t t r i b u t e s i s known

to be non ex t n t Br billa T 1 ~ si s va :=darr

~ s e l n a n . .

This seems to be the prooess of hypothes iz ing

and r e j e c t i n g the hypothes i s . t sugges ts a form and

r e j e c t s i t as not f i t t i n g th e case . That the re i s a

case i s beyond doubt . When l l the poss ib le accounts

have run t h e i r course and been dismissed , having been

und.erstood and i n t e l l i g e n t l y r e j e c t ed , then on e i s l e f t

face to face wi. th th e unknov able. This i s the t r a d i ~

t i o n l method. of teaching ac co rdin g to

S a n k a r a ~II I That

which i s devoid o f l l dua l i t y i s descr ibed by h y ~ ~

and ~ E ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ . by super imposi t ion and nega t ion ,by t t r i b u t i o n e.nd denia le fl This i s the e s s e n t i l

r o l e of negation : the e li mi na ti on o f l l dual i tyo

5.4V P S 213.. . o ~ c - , from note e


47/109

IV

AS./lT AND ABHAVA:THE ABSENT ENTlrry AND THE PROBIJEL 4 0] CAUSALITY

In the l s t chap te r we discovered t ha t absen t

e n t i t i e s as w ell as p re se n t e n t i t i e s r i s e from language.

But i s s t i l l

unc lea r wbat absen te n t i t i e s

are or howthey en te r our exis tence. There i s always the suggest ion

t h t language ac t s Iilee a. blanket , keeping ou.t the cold

o f nothingness , an d absen t e n t i t i e s a re the ho les i n the

blanke t . There a re many l ingUi s t i c occas ions fo r p r i v ~

t i v e terminology, however, and only some o f these a re

o f d i r e c t concern . Absence--- i nd i ca t e s the s t t e o f being

array, an d i rhat i s a b s e n t i s what i s no t presen t to us t

th e moment.. In i t s presen t moment absence appears as

non-eXistence, but t h t which i s n o n ~ e x i s t e n tcannot be

l o s t or missing, ne i the r can repea t i t s e l f except as

non . d i ffe ren t i a ted nothingness . What i s absen t may be

e i t h e r on i t s ra y to or: from us , o r we may be i r r evocab ly

separa ted from i t That which i s absen t has to be i f ~

f e r en t i a t ed from t ha t Tbich i s n o n ~ e x t s t e n t ~but the

problem i s t ha t t h e i r charac te r merges t any given mo-

mente The cohesion o f ex i s t ence through memory shO,1 8

35


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36

i n the d i s t i nc t i on between absences . To understand the

d i s t i n t ~ o nw must peruse the concept of causa l i ty,

and t i s here t h a t the charac te r s of and abhavavTill separa te . The very poss ib i l i t y of d i s t i nc t i ons with

t h e i r concomitant moods can only a r i s e during the course

o f exis tence .

The pr iva t i ve form expresses pr iva t ion orn e g ~

t l on . I t may denote or pred ica te the absence o f a qua l i ty

o r a t t r i b u t e and has the quaIl ty of depr iving or tending

to take away. The pr inc ipa l sense of the word n o t i s

n o n ~ e x i s t e n c eand may be used i n a t l e a s t four ways:

i n a command a de f in i t i on a l og i ca l r e s u l t and a p e r ~

cep t ion .

The use of a o m m n d ~such as D on t do i t , i s

not to crea te any p a r t i c u l a r type of ac t ion but to prevent

an ac t ion from occurr ing. I t d i r ec t l y negates a ray o f

behaving (form) an d i n d i r e c t l y seeks to prevent a p r t i ~

cu l a r s i t ua t i on . In j . t se l f , however, the command does

not d ic t a t e a r e s u l t b ut n ega tes a proceo.ure o fll 1 or the

pecu l i a r funct ion o f the p a r t i c l e tno t i s to in t imate

th e l.dea of the nan-existence of that- \-rith vTh1 h i t

o n n e t e d ~an d the concept ion of the non-exis tence (o f


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something to be done) i s the cause of the s t a t e o f pas

s i vi t y. 57 I t do es not necessa r i ly end a c t i v i t y i n gen=

e r a l but induces pas s iv i t y towards ce r t a in thingse I t

r e l i e s however t on th e a b i l i t y to con t ro l an imaginary

s t a t e o f a f f a i r s . Thus each case o f e i the r a pos i t i ve

o r negat ive command im p li ci tly p os its an absent en t i t y.

Have some tea impl ies t ha t you don1t have any nO\ l.

Def in i t ions o f th ings by means of pr iva t i ve s

a re ever-p resen t in Advai ta , which i s one example of

such a de f in i t i on . I t excludes th ings from considera

t i on 1 lh11e as se r t i ng by impl ica t ion t h a t something i s

a t hand What i s a t hand t the ground o f the absence,

i s understood by the s t ruc tu r e o f absence without ,-1hich

would not be poss ib le to def ine th ings in t h i s manner.

I t surrounds the th ing without s t a t i ng i t . This i s l i k e

the game i n which one th inks o f a th ing and the others

guess by a process of e l imina t ion ( Animal, Vegetable

o r Mineral ) f>

The priva t ive de f in i t i on can be used to s t a t e

very prec i se ly the r e s u l t s o f a l og i ca l inqu i ry. I t

has the a b i l i t y to de l inea t e j u s t what i s knovffi about

a th ing and no more. This i s pa r t i cu l a r ly valuable i f

we d o n t k r W l f exac t ly -\ That ,re are dea l in g Wi t h .

37

57 V Q v v r T p 301 : : . J J 0 p ~ ~ o { ;


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38

Fina l ly and most important fo r ~ the pr iva t i ve

form exhib i t s a percept ion such as There i s no cha i r.

I t should be apparent t h a t the previous th ree types of

pr iva t ive use a l l r e ly, to a ce r t a in extent , on the d i r e c t

knowledge of an absence. n a 10 g i c a t rea tmellt ,

however, t h i s d is ti n c t iv e a t t r i b u t e o f absence i s some

t imes obscured. Bhara t i t I r tha points out t ha t ignorance

o f the f ac t t ha t an absence always has a form o r name

and usual ly a context leads us to consider the n o n ~

ex i s t en t i n t s e l . Then t rea ted separa te ly, has

lead to the idea of nothingnesso 58 This shows up i n

a roundabout way Saying t ha t a sound i s not - red does

no t ne ces sa r i l y imply t h a t i s another co lor, nor does

ne ces sa r i l y mean simply t h a t the re i s no red co lo r i n

i t I t may m e ~ t ha t i s not poss ib le to r e l a t e co lo r

to the s ub je ct . S t i l l i f what i s not-red i s taken to

mean tha t i e i s some color, then to say t h a t i s no t

n o t ~ r ew i l l not mean tha t i s red , but simply t ha t

doesn t come in to t h i s kind of color r e l a t i onsh ip . Thus

to say t ha t something i s ne i the r red nor not - red does

not mean merely t ha t has :red s t r i p e s For example,on e hears , you r e e i t h e r with us or aga i n s t us p which

i s taken to mean t h a t yo u r e us o r not us and t h i s exhausts


51/109

the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of r e l a t i o nsh ip . But i s qui te

reasonable to say t h a t on e i s n e i t h e r a communist nor

an anti-communist meaning t h a t you choose to s tay o u t -

s ide th e un iverse of t h e i r d i scourse . The problem o f

an e i t h e r / o r c h o i c e ~ i s now becoming a p p a r e n t ~assumes

a t bottom a nothingness i n ex i s t ence , and such a n o t h ~

i ngness , we w i l l see presen t ly, throws our unders tanding

o f exis tence in to chaos.

b h ~ ~i s the p r iv a t i ve form of bhava whose

r o o t i s meaning to become, eXis t , occur or be i nany condi t ion . I t i s the formal term used to r e f e r to

the four kinds of absence . 9 Although sometimes i n t e r

changeable ya th a s ~ 1 may be dis t ingu i shed . However

t h i s w i l l only become c l ea r l a t e r Sankara i n h is COll W

mentary o n 1 h E : _ B l l ~ Y ~ ~ C l t ~uses l } ~and 3 b l J ~i n

r e fe renoe to fou r th ings : l i v ing beings , b i r t h and

death , e ff ec t s , and v i s i b l e phenomena. The importance

of etymology, according to him, i s t h a t the r o o t o f a

n O l l i l always shows the changing c h a r a c t e r of the noun as

the r o o t i. s verbaL Hence phenomena i lb.ich have verbal

39

. Discussed i n Sect ion 7 of t h l s chap te r.


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ro ot s in d io at e a change. 6 A b h ~ y ~as a being 6 i s

encountered by us i n the world. As a being i n the world

undergoes s ix changes of con di t ion v i k ~ r ~ :b i r t h ~

e x t s t e n c e ~growth, t r a n s f o r m a t i o n ~ .dec l ine ; an d destruc=

t iOll. 62 Bi r th b h ~ \ ~and death ~ 6 3-are thus

changes vrh h a being passes through. Anything vihic

ex i s t s under modif icat ion w i l l have d i f f e r e n t forms a t

d i f f e r e n t t imes. . e a l l th ings undergoing m o d i ~

f i ca t ion rdo not) have an i d e n t i c a l form o f ex is tence

i n the presen t o r i n the future . , ,64 B 9 : a y ~i s hence the

par t i cu . l a r form entered. in to an d . - . l l l i . ~ Ei s not being i n

such a form.

Tbus the pos i t i ve e f f e c t of a change i s a bhava,

whereas the omission o f change, 2 : J ? l F : 1 y ~I.caves one in

the previou.s s t t e ?l: 1l va i nd i ca t e s t ha t v[h ch h a s n t

been effected o r which i s no longer the e ff ec t . Because

of i t s non-generat ing charac te r produces noth ing .


53/109

A ll phenomena which appear as a change or in the prooess

o f ohange a re thus under=gone by a b h a v ~and henoe a re

a1W Y;... They show themselves as abhava phenomena i n

t h e i r t r a n s i t i o n The charao te r of a l l th ings t h a t a re

o f name and form 1s thus t h a t they w i l l n ot be.. In

t h i s s e n s e ~ Pra lc r i t i I.:is) resolved in to nothing

abhava) by viclya o r knowledge . 66 An ~ ~ Y 5 : :thus i s

a phenomenon which i s e s s e n t i a l l y absent. . I t i s t h a t

from 1 Thioh a bei.ng i s away. Even when a being manifes ts

as a p a r t i c u l a r phenomenon t i s coming towards t o r

going away from t and the phenomenon i s henoe e s s e n t i a l l y

a b s e n t a p ~ ~ ) 67

4. Asat .

Sat an d a s a t both come from the r o o t whichexp la ins the s t a t e o f a f f a i r s They both ocou:c on two

l e v e l s o meaning but div ide exper ience on only one

level . . Ult imate ly, ~ ~ t only i nd i ca t e s what ff iustbe

but c a n t be known.. i nd i ca t e s substance or whatu n d e r l i e s everything v-rhich changes. I t i s the oont inu i ty

i n eXistenoe.As

\ rhat

alwaysex i s t s

t i s what i s r e a l

Real i ty i s hence e s s e n t i a l l y i n a o t i ve. Aoti vi ty i s

66 .. lbii , S . B . ~v. l 3 0 2 3 ~p. 36 2 67 Cee B 1 v 2 Ih ar d S a l 1 . k ~ . : p o ,s.. ~ l .. 0. _J ~ .. . ~ . - co 11L11en t a ry 0 t


54/109


55/109

th e w orld i s g l ven t h a t wa s f i r s t n o n ~ e x i s t e n tauc1

t hen became exi s t ell

Sankara exp la ins9

s a ti s f ree ly used to i n d i c a t e th e m a n if es ta ti on o f th e

name and form o f an o b j e c t ~and t h e r e f o r e 0 being

o f unmanifes t name and form, i s very l i k e n O l l a e x i s t ~

enceg> though n o t a c t u a l l y so ,,69 being impl i e s

th e image o f e x i s t e n c e ~and the express ion one a lone

wi thou t a second and e x i s t e d a re i t s e p i t h e t s ~and

by th e a d d i t i o n o f a nega t ion to th e word a l l t h a t

y j a S ind. lcated by i s excluded fO

Actua l ly s a t i s all-yays th e ground o f eve ry th ing ,

th e f i r s t cause upon which eve ry th ing e l s e r e s t s Here

i s opposed to ~ s a t vrhich i s unders tood a s complete

nOrl=exlstence and c o n t r a d i c t e d n e s s (a r a b b i t s horn)

lIJ3at i s t h a t subs tance which i s mere being o r e xis ten ce j

i s i nTI . s ib l e , lJ : ldis t inct l a l l ~ p e r v a d : i n gone on ly,

V rithou:t d e f e c t , w i t h o u t members, knol 1 ledge i t s e l f , ami

t h a t which i s i n d i c a t e d by a l l th e Vedantas , ,? l In a l l

o t h e r cases 1 1 111 l1e t h a t vihich appears r e l i a n t on

s a t t i n t b i s s e n s e ~b ut i .n dic ate s a d i . s t i n c t aSIl80t of:

th e i rorld


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being, and has become the objec t of our senses by i t s

name, form and other qua l i f i ca t i on , an d i s ind ica ted

by the w o r d t h i s I r : v i z .Th i s i s a house. This i s not

Jack. This h u r t s l while b e f o r e ~ oan te r io r to

the time of i t s crea t ion , i t could be ind ica ted only

th e word sa t b e in g , an d understood only by the idea

o f being, and the re fore i s said , be fo re t h i s was

mere being. 11172 The primordia l ~ i s t ha t which trau.,.scends sa t an d a s a t and i s imper ishable ~ . The

grounded .eat and form the l imi t ing adjuncts or c o n ~

d i tiollS u:oadhi s) a f the Clksara. Our consciousness- = ' - - - ~ - - - ~ ~ ~

o f non-exis tence a r i s e s by re fe rence to tbj.s a8a1: 0 This

consciousness o f ~ ~ i s pa r t of every fac t of experience

The other pa r t i s consciousness o f ~ . Such double

consciousness a r i s e s with reference to one and the same

sUbstratum samanadhikaralfa)1I.73 What i s a s a t may thus

be what occurs as name and form; within name and form

may be what i s s e n t ~

Wbat i s ~ ~ ind ica tes fo r us t ha t which may

change.. As such i t i s inheren t ly per i shab le . Th:i.s i s

ord inar i ly Yrhat I unrea l i t y r e f e r s to as a t r ans l a t ion

fo r ~ a 1 9The c r i t e r i o n of r e a l i t y i s imperi.shabil:i..tyc


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Every name and form i s unrea l because t i s not perceived

bBfore i t s crea t ion and a f t e r i t s des t ruc t ion . 74 The

s tr an ge ne ss o f the world fee l ing a t ease or l o s t

i s only a pa r t of what un rea l means to the Advai t in .

The t a c t i l i t y o f the world or the f ac t t h a t th ings a re

Sol id i s only a misleading pa r t o f r e a l i t y One can

perceive a form by touch as w el l as by s i gh t . The un=

r e a l i t y o f a l l th ings which are knovrJ by name and form

poin t s to the necess i ty of an understanding o f t ha t upon

which exis tence i s based. Vlhen the substratum of l.mder-

s tanding drops out phenomenal a c t i v i t y seems without

r e a l i t y ActiVi ty as has been said a lso has a form.

Phenomena are now the count erpo s1 t ves of nOll=ex5 stence

and on e f ee l s absent from them. What undergoes the

ephemeral i s w h ~ tl ends r e a l i t y to t and thUS by i t s

absence and the consequent phenomenal l .mreali ty e m r ~

ca tes the r e a l from th e l.lnreaL From a d i f f e r e n t p r ~

spec t ive we see t ha t i nd i ca t e s what i s ever ex i s t en tand i s f i n a l l y t h a t which has no r e a l ex i s t ence .

i s necessary to assume t h a t vrhat i s r e a l

never moves or ac t s and what has ever moved or couldever move or a c t i s unrea l . From t i n s t fol lows t h a t


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c t i v i t y may only occur where there i s a l ready es sen t i a l l y

c t l v i t y and inac t ion may only e x is t in what i s es sen t i a l l y

r e l 7 r Tl h t i 1 lo t ~lU S w s rea Wl never appear ~

r ema in unman ifes t One th ing w hich r em ai ns u nm a ni fe st

i s the cognizer of whatever appears t due l og i ca l l y to

an i n f i n i t e regress ) who i s the k s ~ ~ ~ knower o f th e f i e l d ~ ~ see . LJl,, . Another th ing i s t ha t aspect

o f what appears which i s not graspable by the senseS e

This i s th e ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~or what i s incomprehensible to th e

senses .76 t l i e s t the core of causa l i ty, fo r the

problem of cause and e ff ec t i s t h a t the re must be a con=

tinuUill i n what i s apparent e

Cause and e f f e c t , al though they are knOl1ll :\.n a

r e l a t i onsh ip by the percept ion of absence, must both

be ex i s t en t . That the cause must e x i s t p r i o r to an

e f f e c t i s usual ly acknOWledged. w i l l discovers how

ever, t ha t the re i s no room fo r crea t ion in Advaita,

b ut the presence of a form i s effec ted uncovering

what i s a l ready ex i s ten t Such uncovering diso loses

an i l l u s i o n by making apparent what we were missing

Thus 11 0 term the e ff ec t rlhich i s no t m an ifes t , I absent 1


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nor betvTeen two nonen t i t i eso l 83 Finally ) i n a r a the r

49

.

i r on ic s t a t e m e n t ~Sankara notes t ha t vi o not see people

s t r i ve fo r th ings which they know to be non-exis tent 8/

Thus the importance of noting the absence of something

i s in que l l ing appe t i t e s fo r i to

As e ff ec t s must already i s t ~ making or seeing

an e ff ec t take place i s watching the uncovering o f what

already iso The manifes ta t ion o f an e ff ec t poin t s out

i t s p r e ~ e x i s t e n c e the natu.re of n O l ~ e x i s t e n c e

not poss ib le fo r a th ing charac te r i sed by the p o s s s ~

s ion of d i f f e r en t s t t e s (o f exis tence) l i k e inc rease

and clecrease .85 As the form must e xis t p rio r to i t s

mani fes ta t ion so must the name

The uncovering of an e ff ec t already ex i s t en t

i n a cause w have ca l led manifes ta t ion The cause

w bave a l so noted i s doomed to be perpe tua l ly covered o

There a re l kinds o f o bs tru ct lo n o f m a ni fe st at io n

One i s the o bs tru ctio n o f the p r t i l e s of the m at e r i a l

remaining i n some o the r form j e gOj clay remaining i n

a lump ins tead of revea l ing the pot The other kind.

o f obs t ruc t ion i s when something i s hidden by th ings


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l i k e darkness o r an in te rven ing 0 bs tac lc o l l th an i . n t e r ~

vening obs tac le l i k e a . y a l l ~the th ing i s removed in

order to remove the obs t ruc t ion o f the e ff ec t o In the

case of darkness something i s aclded s a l i t ~ to remove

th e obscurat iol le

What m y be made manifes t i s always accomplished

by removing obst ruct ions . What i s removed has the s t a tu s

o f an obs tac le . What was obscured eXis ts as hidden.

The s t a tu s of absence has become r ad i ca l l y changed.

6. ]2i ~ i E h ~ _ l e C J J 1 1 h t ~ N0 _ t L 1 U L ~ . . . ?

The e f fec t th a t i s n t y e t revealed we would c l l

absen:t. The obs tac le to Dl8.n:i.festation f t e r has

been removed s we would also c l l absent . Yet the two

absences seem to have d i f f e r en t cbaracters. The f i r s t

i s ca l l ed ~ ~ l ~ ~or an teceden t non=existence. The

seoond i s ca l led ~ 4 ~ b h a y ~There are ac tua l l y

t \ fO other l t inds o f absence . A ll o f these t an y moment

o f percep t ion m y be ca l led One problem with

ca l l i ng these non-ex is ten t pa r t i ou l a r ly i f on e wishes

to asori.be t h i s charac te r to an e f f e c t th a t i s mani=

f e s t i ng or i n the terminology of i l l u s i o n ~i s super-

imposed. i s t ha t l there i s the contingence o f the non.

exl s tence o f imm.ediaoy fo r th e superimpo sed 8 One

50

8Ipl2.;.. p . 88.


62/109


63/109

52

The c on dit io ns fo r not ic ing an absence a re in te=

gra l ly connected with what occurs a t the momento These

condi t ions can then a id in determining the type of absence.

Any absence must occur tn a l o c a t i o n ; fo r there i s a

di ffe rence between an absent ent i ty and an absence o f

perceptiono f nothing i s perceived, the loca t ion w i l l

a l so not be perceived and everything could then be absent .

But only the absence of percept ion could be known

whereas whether an ent i ty was presen t or absent could

not be knovffi. One i s not bl ind upon the knowledge o f

a missing house. f we pass from percept ion o f the ground

to the absence of the house, the re illt lSt be an experience

which i s a f ac t given there . This th ing beside t h a t

ithi.ch under l i es an absence :i B YThat should be there in

order fo r no absence to occur. This i s the o u n t r p o s i ~

t i ve 2 . r a t ~ ~ ~ 1 J 1 )o f the absence o These two condi t ions

must be given i n any experience o f absence: the sub

s t r a t u ~and the cowl te rpos i t ive . 90 Bhara t i t i r t ha v a l l

go so f a r as to say tb a t i n t h f ~case of i l l u s i o n l i the

subsequent cogni t ion t h e r e i s no s i l v e r here s r e a l

s i l v e r fo r content .9 This i s to say t ha t 1V hat had

9 0 V p S pp . 3 4 ~ 3 5 The V P ~ seems to usef c o u n t e r ~ c o r r e r a t e lfo r 1rhat v and the V.Po c a l l the

I IIcouuterpositivel . I don t bel ieve the V:P S i s re fe r=r i n g ~by i t s term1.nology i n t r s case , t o - t he Nyaya aoco uuto f absence.

9 l I 1? tsl< p. 57.


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53

been cognized, i s knorffi to the \ iorld as r e a L Such

i s the na ture of th e c o u n t e r p o s i t i v e ~The f ac t remains

t h a t t h i s s i l v e r i s absento

7 ~ l , ~ . h J l s ~

There are four types of absence: l?J;: gabl1a\ra

or previous absenc8 1 ~ d h y ~ ~ s a ~ h a v ~or absence as des=

t r u t o n ~~ n ~ o ~ y ~ ~ h a ~ ~or mutual absence, and a t l a n t a ~ ~ ~

o r abso lu ten o n ~ e x i s t e n c e ~

~ l n ~i s the type o f non-exis tence from

Which Sankara always draws h is e x m p l e s ~ t i s defined

as an en t i t y which fo r a l l t ime w i l l never be presen t

i n a p a r t i c u l a r subs t ra tum. 92 Thus w i l l never a r i s e

as an e f f e c t ~ t i s SUbject to des t ruc t ion by means of

the des t ruc t ion o f th e substratmn Examples of j , t are

co lor i n a i r o r horns on a hare (Square,scircles and

the l i k e a re no t used a s examples of t h i s type o f absence

i n the l i t e r a t u r e I consul ted . The reason, I be l i eve ; i s

t h a t square=c i rc les a re con t rad ic t ions in terms whereas

r e f e r s to something which never a r i s e s froman ex i s t en t th ing , i o e ~from a cause.} Nyaya def ines

t h i s type of absence a s the negat ion of a con q ectl ol};

between two th ings , such as ea rs on a pear h i ~ negated


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connection i s e t e rna l o Two points in th e A dv ait i n u n d e r ~

s tanding deserve notic8o The f i r s t i s t ha t the causal

r e l a t i onsh ip of appearance 11 ith a subs t an t i a l cause i s

invoked and dismissed a Due to the absence of a cause,

a connection i s not even to be considered between t h i s

n o n ~ x s t n tent i ty and i t s 10CU8 le cannot indeed

t b i n k o f a th ing which can cause the b i r t h of a barren

woman s son or h is r e l a t i on to anything e1880 1193 The

second i s t ha t ~ ~ ~ ~ b v ~i s not e t e rna l fo r r e l i e s

on a substratum to even be considered

One type of ~ ~ n t ~ i ~occurs i n the case 01

an i l l u s i o n The counte rpos i t ive of t h i s kind of ab-

sence i s the co lor in a i r or the horus on a hareo I f

e 1fere to see such th ings we 1 Tould th ink r were ha l

lucinat ingo In the West, the c l a s s i c example of ~ ~ n l ~ -b ~ ~ i s a pink elephant . ) I l l u so r ines s may thus be

underst.ood thro ug h tl ais terminology. I t i s the c o u n t e r ~

pos i t i ve of what i s abso lu te ly non-ex is ten t in the locus

where what i s i l l u s o r y has be en c og ni ze d o Uhat i s

~ ~ ~ ~ y ~i s the s i l v e r i n the she llo I t d o e s n t

ex i s ti n

any way as an e f f e c t of thes h e l l ~l i k e a

poti s th e e ff ec t of clay, but i s an i l l u s i o n l i ke a mirage

of water on the deserto There i s abso lu te ly no water


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on th e dese r t . Because the mirage has been seen has

some s t a t u s as an i l l u s i o n The i l l u s q r i n e s s of s i l v e r

i n a s h e l l i s the coun te rpos i t ive o f the abso lu te non-

exis tence o f s i l v e r i n a s h e l l Thus i l l u s o r i n e s s i s

defined a s the c o u n t e r ~ c o r r e l a t eo f abso lu te non u

ex i s t ence in the locus I lhere has been cognized.

Y ~ i s the absence o f on e th ing whereanother th ing i s I t i s sometimes t r an s l a t ed as IImutual

exclus ion .95 The th ing rrhich i s i s negated by another

th ing as i n lithe j a r i s no t a c lo t h The c l o t h

Sankara notes i s a p os i t iv e e nt i ty al though eXis t ing

as a negator 96 Taking these t fO pos i t i ve e n t i t i e s

toge ther r observe t h a t they have d i f f e r e n t names an d

forms. Each one i s no t the other and hence each i s the

absence o f the other.

What i s apprehended i n the cogn i t ion according

to the ~ d a n ~ a r i b h a ~ ~i s di ffe rence or separa teness (ph.da an d 12..:th,?-ktva) which a re in d i s t i ngu i sha b l e . The

i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b i l i t y of these two th ings i s mentioned

to con t rad ic t th e Nyaya unders tanding o f t h i s type o f

absence vlhich def ines as the negat ion o f the r ~ l t i l i

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8/9/2019 Kenneth Howard, "The Knowledge of the Absent Entity in Advaita Vedanta" (1

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Kenneth Howard, "The Knowledge of the Absent Entity in Advaita Vedanta" (1971)