# अभाव (abhāva)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/abhava

अभाव (abhāva) is a Sanskrit word meaning non-existence, absence, non-entity or negation, proof from non-existence, annihilation, death, the seventh category in Kanada's system, annihilation or death. Its 20 recorded definitions are grouped into 7 contexts, among them Non-existence, Absence, Lack, Annihilation, Death, Destruction, Adjective: Lacking Qualities / Non-existent.

- **Etymology:** E. अ neg. and भाव — E. a neg. and bhāva
- **SLP1:** `aBAva`  **IAST:** abhāva  **Devanagari:** अभाव
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhava
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/abhava/declensions.md
- **Other headwords romanised the same way:** अभव (abhava)

## Meanings by context

### Non-existence, Absence, Lack (9 definitions)
- non-existence, absence  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 60,3] अ - भाव (a-bhāva) m. non-existence, nullity, absence [ ID=11167 ]
- Non-existence  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — वः (vaḥ) 1 Not being or existing, non-existence; गतो भवोऽभावं (gato bhavo'bhāvaṃ) Mṛcchakaṭikā 1 has disappeared
- Absence, want, or failure.  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — वः (vaḥ) 2 Absence, want, failure; सर्वेषामप्यभावे तु ब्राह्मणा रिक्थभागिनः (sarveṣāmapyabhāve tu brāhmaṇā rikthabhāginaḥ) Manusmṛti 9. 188; mostly in comp.; सर्वाभावे हरेन्नृपः (sarvābhāve harennṛpaḥ) 189 in the absence of all, failing all; तोय (toya) °, अन्न °, आहार ° (°, anna°, āhāra°) &c
- non-existence, absence, or lack  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 022-3 ] अभाव (abhāva) a-bhāva, m. non-existence; absence, lack. [ ID=2184 ]
- Non-existence, want, or absence.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 040-b ] अ - भाव (a-bhāva) ( वः ) ((vaḥ)) 1. m. Non-existence, want, absence. [ ID=1995 ]
- 1. Non-existence. 2. Absence, want, or failure. 3. Non-entity. 4. Death or destruction.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 046-10 ] अभाव (abhāva) m. 1. The not being, the not existing; 2. absence, want, failure, पित्रोरभावे पुत्राणां विभागः संप्रदर्शितः (pitrorabhāve putrāṇāṃ vibhāgaḥ saṃpradarśitaḥ) Bṛihaspati.; 3. non-entity, नाभाव उपलब्धेः (nābhāva upalabdheḥ) S.Bh.; 4. non-entity considered as the seventh category in Kaṇāda’s system (It is distinguished as प्रागभाव (prāgabhāva), प्रध्वंसाभाव (pradhvaṃsābhāva), अत्यन्ताभाव (atyantābhāva) and अन्योन्याभाव (anyonyābhāva) ); 4. death, destruction, e.g. अभाव (abhāva) े भवतां योऽस्मिञ्जीवेत्तस्यास्त्वजीवनिः (abhāve bhavatāṃ yo'smiñjīvettasyāstvajīvaniḥ). [ ID=2471 ]
- 1. Non-existence, absence, or want. 2. Failure, destruction, or death.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 033 ] अभाव (abhāva) m. not being, non-existence, absence, want, failure, destruction, death. — ° वं गम् (°vaṃ gam) perish, die.* [ ID=2253 ]
- non-existence or absence  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 119-a ] a-bhāva, m. non-existence; absence; lack. [ ID=315 ]
- 1. Non-existence, absence, negation, or nullity. 2. The seventh category in Kanada's system. 3. Annihilation or death.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 0060-c ] अभाव (abhāva) a-bhāva, as, m. non-existence, ab- sence; non-entity, negation, nullity, the seventh cate- gory in Kaṇāda's system; annihilation, death. [ ID=4133 ]

### Annihilation, Death, Destruction (4 definitions)
- annihilation, death  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > annihilation, death. [ ID=11170 ]
- Annihilation, death, destruction  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — वः (vaḥ) 3 Annihilation, death, destruction, non-entity; नाभाव उपलब्धेः (nābhāva upalabdheḥ) Ś. B.; Śiśupālavadha 20. 64; Kirātārjunīya 18. 10
- 1. Non-existence or annihilation. 2. Death. 3. Negation. 4. Absence of essential parts in poetry or character.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) [Printed book page 052 ] अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) m. ( - वः (-vaḥ) ) 1 Non-existence, annihilation. 2 Death. 3 (In logic) Negation of two kinds, संसर्गाभाव (bhāva) (saṃsargābhāva) universal negation, and अ (a) न्योन्याभाव (bhāva) (anyonyābhāva) relative or mutual negation. 4 (In rhetoric) Absence of the essential parts of poetical description of character, want of the properties or temperaments. E. अ (a) priv. भाव (bhāva) being. [ ID=2471 ]
- 1. Non-existence or annihilation. 2. Death. 3. Universal or mutual negation. 4. Absence of essential parts or properties.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) [Printed book page 043-b ] अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) m. ( - वः (-vaḥ) ) 1. Non-existence, annihilation. 2. Death. 3. (In logic) Negation of two kinds, संसर्गाभाव (bhāva) (saṃsargābhāva) universal negation, and अ (a) न्योन्याभाव (bhāva) (anyonyābhāva) relative or mutual negation. 4. (In rhetoric) Absence of the essential parts of poetical description of character, want of the properties or temperaments. E. अ (a) priv. भाव (bhāva) being. [ ID=2469 ]

### Adjective: Lacking Qualities / Non-existent (2 definitions)
- Without love or affection  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 0126-b ] अभाव (abhāva) a. [ न (na). ब (ba).] 1 Without love or affection
- non-existent  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अभाव (abhāva) [Printed book page 0126-b ] अभाव (abhāva) a. [ न (na). ब (ba).] 2 Non-existent

### Philosophical Category of Non-Being/Negation (2 definitions)
- non-entity or negation  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > non-entity, negation (the seventh category in Kaṇāda's system) [ ID=11168 ]
- Privation, non-existence, nullity, or negation  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — वः (vaḥ) 4 (In phil. ) Privation, non-existence, nullity or negation, supposed to be the seventh category or पदार्थ (padārtha) in the system of Kaṇāda. Strictly speaking अभाव (bhāva) (abhāva) is not a separate predicament, like द्रव्य, गुण (dravya, guṇa), but is only a negative arrangement of those predicaments; all nameable things being divided into positive ( भाव (bhāva) ) and negative ( अभाव (bhāva) (abhāva) ), the first division including द्रव्य, गुण (dravya, guṇa), कर्म, सामान्य, विशेष (dravya, guṇa, karma, sāmānya, viśeṣa) and समवाय (samavāya) and the second only one अभाव (bhāva) (abhāva); cf. अत्र सप्तमस्थाभाव (bhāva) कथनादेव षण्णां भाव (bhāva) त्वं प्राप्तं (atra saptamasthābhāvakathanādeva ṣaṇṇāṃ bhāvatvaṃ prāptaṃ) ( pb ) तेन भाव (bhāva) त्वेन पृथगुपन्यासो न कृतः (tena bhāvatvena pṛthagupanyāso na kṛtaḥ) Muktā. अभाव (bhāva) (abhāva) is defined as भाव (bhāva) भिन्नोऽभाव (bhāva) ः (bhāvabhinno'bhāvaḥ) ( प्रतियोगिज्ञानाधीनविषयत्वं (pratiyogijñānādhīnaviṣayatvaṃ) ) that whose knowledge is dependent on the knowledge of its प्रतियोगी (pratiyogī). It is of two principal kinds संसर्गाभाव (bhāva) (saṃsargābhāva) and अन्योन्याभाव (bhāva) (anyonyābhāva); the first comprising three varieties प्रागभाव (bhāva) (prāgabhāva), प्रध्वंसाभाव (bhāva) (pradhvaṃsābhāva), and अत्यंताभाव (bhāva) (atyaṃtābhāva)

### Compound: Abhāvasampatti (False Attribution) (1 definition)
- false attribution  
  *Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > — संपत्तिः (saṃpattiḥ) f. false attribution (= अध्यास (adhyāsa) q. v. ) [ ID=2984 ]

### Proof from Non-existence (Pramāṇa) (1 definition)
- proof from non-existence  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > proof from non-existence (one of the six pramāṇas in Vedānta phil. [‘since there are no mice, therefore there must be cats here’] See प्रमाण (pramāṇa) ) [ ID=11169 ]

### Shade or Shadow (abhāvā, f.) (1 definition)
- 1. Absence, non-existence, or lack. 2. Destruction or death. 3. A shade or shadow.  
  *Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) [Printed book page 235-b ] अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) I. Tatpur. m. ( - वः (-vaḥ) ) 1 The not being, the not existing, ab- sence; e. g. a Vārtt. to Pāṇ. ( यस्य च भाव (bhāva) ेन (na) भाव (bhāva) लक्षणम् (yasya ca bhāvena bhāvalakṣaṇam) ): भाव (bhāva) लक्षणे सप्तमीविधान (na) ेऽभाव (bhāva) लक्षण उपसंख्यान (na) म्; (bhāvalakṣaṇe saptamīvidhāne'bhāvalakṣaṇa upasaṃkhyānam;) or in the Mīm. Sūtras: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) दर्शन (na) ाच्च, (abhāvadarśanācca,) or अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) ाच्चेतरस्य स्यात्; (abhāvāccetarasya syāt;) comp. also the definition of न (na) s. v. अ (a) प्राशस्त्य; (aprāśastya;) but mostly and frequently used in this sense as the latter part of a com- pound, esp. in scientific writings; e. g. in the Mīm. Sūtras: अ (a) र्थाभाव (bhāva) ान (na) ्न (na) ैवं स्यात्, (arthābhāvānnaivaṃ syāt,) or कर्माभाव (bhāva) ान (na) ्न (na) ेति परार्थत्वात् (karmābhāvānneti parārthatvāt) &c.; in the Vedānta S.: तदभाव (bhāva) ो न (na) ाडीषु तच्छ्रुतेरात्मन (na) ि च, (tadabhāvo nāḍīṣu tacchruterātmani ca,) or का - (kā-) म्यास्तु यथाकामं समुच्चीयेरन (na) ्न (na) वा पूर्वहेत्वभाव (bhāva) ात् (myāstu yathākāmaṃ samuccīyeranna vā pūrvahetvabhāvāt) &c.; in the Sāṅkhya S.: मूले मूलाभाव (bhāva) ादमूलं मूलम्, (mūle mūlābhāvādamūlaṃ mūlam,) or न (na) पौरुषेयत्वं (na pauruṣeyatvaṃ) तत्कर्तुः पुरुषस्याभाव (bhāva) ात् (tatkartuḥ puruṣasyābhāvāt) &c.; in the Yoga S.: हेतुफलाश्रया - (hetuphalāśrayā-) लम्बन (na) ैः संगृहीतत्वादेषामभाव (bhāva) े तदभाव (bhāva) ः, (bhāvaḥ,) (lambanaiḥ saṃgṛhītatvādeṣāmabhāve tadabhāvaḥ,) or ततः प्रत्यक्चेतन (na) ा - (tataḥ pratyakcetanā-) धिगमोऽप्यन (na) ्तरायाभाव (bhāva) श्च (dhigamo'pyantarāyābhāvaśca) &c.; in the Nyāya S.: वर्तमान (na) ा - (vartamānā-) भाव (bhāva) े सर्वाग्रहणं प्रत्यक्षान (na) ुपपत्तेः, (bhāve sarvāgrahaṇaṃ pratyakṣānupapatteḥ,) or प्रागुत्पत्तेः कारणाभाव (bhāva) ा - (prāgutpatteḥ kāraṇābhāvā-) दन (na) ुत्पत्तिसमः (danutpattisamaḥ) &c.; in the Vaiśeṣika S.: कारणाभाव (bhāva) ात्कार्या - (kāraṇābhāvātkāryā-) भाव (bhāva) ः, (bhāvaḥ,) or कार्याभाव (bhāva) ात्कारणाभाव (bhāva) ः; (kāryābhāvātkāraṇābhāvaḥ;) or Pāṇini: अ (a) व्ययं वि - (avyayaṃ vi-) भक्तिसमीपसमृद्धिव्यृद्ध्यर्थाभाव (bhāva) (bhaktisamīpasamṛddhivyṛddhyarthābhāva) °° वचन (na) ेषु (°°vacaneṣu). 2 Absence, want, failure; e. g. Kātyāy. Śrauta S.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) े (abhāve) (scil. यूपस्य (yūpasya) ) खदि - (khadi-) रविल्वरौहितकान (na) ् (ravilvarauhitakān) (scil. यूपान (na) ्कुर्यात् (yūpānkuryāt) ); or Vyāsa: भ्रातॄणां (bhrātṝṇāṃ) जीवतोः पित्रोः सहवासो विधीयते । तदभाव (bhāva) े विभक्तान (na) ां धर्म - (jīvatoḥ pitroḥ sahavāso vidhīyate. tadabhāve vibhaktānāṃ dharma-) स्तेषां विवर्धते; (steṣāṃ vivardhate;) or Vṛhaspati: पित्रोरभाव (bhāva) े पुत्राणां विभागः (pitrorabhāve putrāṇāṃ vibhāgaḥ) संप्रदर्शितः (saṃpradarśitaḥ) (see meaning 4.); or Bhūripr. (= Trik. ): (scil. अ (a) ङ्गन (na) ान (na) ाम् (aṅganānām) ) अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) ादङ्गन (na) ात्यागस्तुरगब्रह्मचर्यकम् (abhāvādaṅganātyāgasturagabrahmacaryakam). 3 Non- existence, non-entity; in this sense mostly occurring in the philosophical Sūtras; e. g. in the Vedānta S.: न (na) ाभाव (bhāva) उप - (nābhāva upa-) लब्धेः; (labdheḥ;) or in the Sāṅkhya S.: अ (a) न (na) ादावद्य यावदभाव (bhāva) ाद्भवि - (anādāvadya yāvadabhāvādbhavi-) ष्यदप्येवम्; (ṣyadapyevam;) or in the Yoya S.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) प्रत्ययालम्बन (na) ा वृत्तिर्न (na) िद्रा; (abhāvapratyayālambanā vṛttirnidrā;) or in the Nyāya S.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) ाद्भाव (bhāva) ोत्पत्तिर्न (na) ान (na) ुपमृद्य प्रादुर्भाव (bhāva) ात्, (abhāvādbhāvotpattirnānupamṛdya prādurbhāvāt,) or सर्वमभाव (bhāva) ो भाव (bhāva) ेष्वितरेतराभाव (bhāva) सिद्धेः (sarvamabhāvo bhāveṣvitaretarābhāvasiddheḥ). The category ‘non- existence or non-entity’ is originally not to either of the six philosophical systems a प्रमाण (pramāṇa) (q. v.) or instrument of forming a right notion; it has been adopted, however, as such by Kumārila-Svāmin, the commentator of Jaimini and Page236-a+ 56 his followers, and equally by the Vedāntists, although no mention is made of it, as of a pramāṇa, in the Brahma- Sūtras; ( Gauḍapāda is mistaken in mentioning it in his comm. on the Sāṅkhyakār. v. 4. as one of Jaimini' s pramāṇa ); the Sāṅkhya systems consider it as comprised under the pra- māṇa आप्तवचन (na) (āptavacana) q. v. and the Nyāya under the pramāṇa अ (a) न (na) ुमान (na) (anumāna) q. v. In Kaṇāda' s or the Vaiśeṣīka system it is the seventh or last पदार्थ (padārtha) or category, and distinguished as संसर्गाभाव (bhāva) (saṃsargābhāva) and अ (a) न (na) ्योन (na) ्याभाव (bhāva), (anyonyābhāva,) the former again as प्रागभाव (bhāva), (prāgabhāva,) ध्वंस (dhvaṃsa) and अ (a) त्यन (na) ्ताभाव (bhāva); (atyantābhāva;) for the definition of these terms see s. vv.; (hence the word occurs also in the plural, e. g. in the Bhāṣaparichchheda: विशेषणतया तद्वदभाव (bhāva) ान (na) ां ग्रहो (viśeṣaṇatayā tadvadabhāvānāṃ graho) ' भवत् ('bhavat) ); Gauḍapāda divides अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) in प्रागभाव (bhāva), (prāgabhāva,) इतरेतरा - (prāgabhāva, itaretarā-) भाव (bhāva), अ (a) त्यन (na) ्ताभाव (bhāva) (bhāva, atyantābhāva) and सर्वाभाव (bhāva) (sarvābhāva) qq. vv. 4 Destruction, death; e. g. in the Vedānta S.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) ं बादरिराह ह्येवम् (abhāvaṃ bādarirāha hyevam) ( Anū- panar.: मुक्तस्य देहाद्यभाव (bhāva) ं बादरिराह (muktasya dehādyabhāvaṃ bādarirāha) &c.; Śaṅkara: … (…) तस्मादभाव (bhāva) ः शरीरेन (na) ्द्रियाणां मोक्षे (tasmādabhāvaḥ śarīrendriyāṇāṃ mokṣe) ); or Bhaṭṭik.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) े (abhāve) भवतां योऽस्मिञ्जीवेत्तस्यास्त्वजीवन (na) िः (bhavatāṃ yo'smiñjīvettasyāstvajīvaniḥ) ( Jayam. and Bharatas.: अ (a) भाव (bhāva) (abhāva) े (abhāve) विन (na) ाशे (abhāve vināśe) ). The instances from Vyāsa and Vṛhasp. under 2. and similar ones might be referred apparently to the meaning ‘death’, but it seems more correct to render them ‘if the parents are no more’ or ‘in the absence of the parents’ &c. instead of ‘on the death of the parents’ &c. E. अ (a) neg. and भाव (bhāva). II. Bahuvr. f. ( - वा (-vā) ) A shade, a shadow (? according to the Nighanta-Prakāśa ). E. अ (a) priv. and भाव (bhāva). [ ID=5885 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Apte Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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