[Advaita-l] [advaitin] T&D – Avidyā

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Vikram ji
This law of excluded middle is a bogeyman and there is no necessity that
reality has to fall in to such neat categories.

What to speak of avidyā, even an electron is bhāvābhāvavilakṣaṇa at any
given point in space as per current wisdom.

If we ask the question - is the electron present or absent at a given
location, the answer is neither.

Om
Raghav

On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 at 9:30 AM, Vikram Jagannathan via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaskaram Michael ji,
>
> << The result is a violation of the law of excluded middle >>
>
> Quick question: Is there anything wrong if the siddhanta does not conform
> to the law of excluded middle? Is the non-alignment a logical fallacy or a
> sign of an internal inconsistency?
>
> prostrations,
> Vikram
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 6:40 PM Michael Chandra Cohen <
> michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Namaste Sudhanshu ji,
> > //Ontologically, the bhAva-abhAva-vilakshaNa avidyA is non-existent.
> > Period. Non-existence does not and cannot prohibit appearance.//
> > I believe you mean to say, non-existence like snake appears but
> > non-existence like hare's horn does not appear. And, I get the third
> category
> > - sat/asat and phenomenological.
> > But, both snake and horn are asat - they are both errors and sublatable -
> > one seen, the other not seen.  The point of bhasya is that neither are
> > real, both are illusion. period. .
> >
> > *Prātibhāsika* is not taught as some separate quasi-epistemological,
> > class of provisional entity. It is simply *misperception* (*adhyāsa*).
> > What appears is only the substratum, wrongly cognized. -a *cognitive
> > error*.
> >
> > Indeed, the entire triad—seer, seen, and seeing—belongs to avidyā alone
> > without distinction. By positing a distinct *prātibhāsika level*, the
> > theory covertly treats illusion as something positively produced,
> > as though error required a subtle material manifestation. This mistakes
> > misapprehension for creation. Illusion is not produced; it is only
> falsely
> > attributed.
> >
> > The result is a violation of the law of excluded middle: what is neither
> > sat nor asat is granted a quasi-status. But for strict Advaita there is
> no
> > third category. The real alone is unsublatable; everything else is simply
> > unreal.
> >
> > What has happened in this departure from PTB is this elaborate
> > construction explaining and inadvertently reifying creation. The
> > distinction between DSV adn SDV are only further constructions - mula and
> > tula ajnana - vivarana and vishepa shakti - bhava-abhava vilakshana - on
> > and on - all constructions not found in PTB.  Sankara wasn't interested
> in
> > building explanation only dismissing the superimposition
> >
> > //Epistemic and error require a mind upfront. So, is the opponent saying
> > that ignorance pre-requires mind?
> > If so, then entire VedAnta stands refuted because mind being nAma-rUpa,
> > is a product of ignorance.//
> > “Epistemic” in this context does not imply a pre-existing mind as a
> > substance; it simply denies that ignorance is an ontological principle.
> >  Mind, ignorance, and error all belong to the same empirical explanatory
> > framework and are jointly sublated.
> >  The idea of one who is in ignorance and one who becomes free from
> > ignorance, is a serious distortion of Sankara's PTB. 🙏🙏🙏
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 8:47 AM Sudhanshu Shekhar <
> > sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Namaste Michael ji.
> >>
> >>>
> >> However, this move is purely stipulative and depends entirely on a prior
> >>> reification of avidyā.
> >>
> >>
> >> It just shows that there is no logical inaccuracy in postulating
> >> bhAva-abhAva-vilakshaNa entity.
> >>
> >> The need for a “third ontological category” arises
> >>> only if avidyā is first treated as a positive explanatory entity
> >>> requiring
> >>> metaphysical classification.
> >>
> >>
> >> It is not a third ontological category. This is the point which has been
> >> mentioned umpteen times. Ontologically, the bhAva-abhAva-vilakshaNa
> avidyA
> >> is non-existent. Period.
> >>
> >> Non-existence does not and cannot prohibit appearance. There are umpteen
> >> examples in daily life viz. Illusory snake.
> >>
> >>
> >> Once that assumption is questioned—as in
> >>> Śaṅkara’s strictly epistemic treatment of ignorance as mere
> >>> non-apprehension or error—the dilemma itself dissolves.
> >>
> >>
> >> "Epistemic", "error" need to be rigorously defined for any meaningful
> >> discussion.
> >>
> >> Epistemic and error require a mind upfront. So, is the opponent saying
> >> that ignorance pre-requires mind?
> >>
> >> If so, then entire VedAnta stands refuted because mind being nAma-rUpa,
> >> is a product of ignorance.
> >>
> >> Ignorance is not a
> >>> candidate for ontological taxonomy at all, and thus need not be located
> >>> within or outside the bhāva/abhāva schema.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Why not? Illusory snake and horns of hare are both non-existent. Yet,
> one
> >> appears and the other doesn't. So, a distinction is required to be made
> for
> >> clear communication.
> >>
> >> Accordingly, the appeal to “paraspara-viraha-vyāpya” does not solve an
> >>> independent problem; it merely accommodates a problem generated by the
> >>> prior hypostatization of avidyā.
> >>>
> >>
> >> It merely refutes the objection of the opponent who claims that it is
> not
> >> possible to have bhAva-abhAva-vilakshaNA avidyA.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
> >>
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