Satyatva and Mithyātva in Advaita Vedānta

These aren’t loose words like “real” and “unreal” in casual English. In Advaita Vedānta, they’re technical categories grounded in logic (a.k.a yukti), experience (a.k.a anubhava), and scripture (a.k.a śruti). Here’s a precise breakdown, including Atyanta-abhāva.

1. Satyatva (Reality)

Definition: Trikāla-abādhitvam — that which is not sublated (negated) in the past, present, or future.

• Something that remains constantly and is never contradicted is considered satyam.
• It’s not about being perceptible, but about being ontologically undeniable.

Example:

• In the classic rope-snake illusion, the rope is satyam. It’s what was actually there before, during, and after the illusion.
• Brahman is the only entity with trikāla-abādhitvam, so only Brahman is satyam.

2. Mithyātva (Apparent Reality)

Definition: Pratipanna-upādhi-trikālika-niṣedha-pratiyogitvam

Let’s break that down:

• Pratipanna = something that appears
• Upādhi = due to a conditioning adjunct (like a pot limiting space)
• Trikālika = across all three times (past, present, future)
• Niṣedha-pratiyogitvam = that which is the counter-correlate of negation, i.e. gets negated in all three times

So a mithyā object:

• Appears in a certain context
• Gets sublated (cancelled) once the truth is known
• Was never really there, even though it seemed to be

Examples:

• Dream tiger: frightening while asleep, but vanishes upon waking
• Shell-silver: you mistake a shell for silver, but realise the truth later
• Rope-snake: you saw a snake, but it was just a misperception — the snake was never truly there
• This world: appears real due to avidyā, but is known as mithyā when Brahman is realised

Important: Mithyā does not equal nonexistence — it does appear, but it’s not ultimately real. It’s anirvacanīya (indefinable as either real or unreal).

3. Atyanta-Abhāva (Absolute Nonexistence)

Definition: That which is totally and eternally absent. It neither appears nor gets mistaken for anything. There’s no possibility of it ever being perceived — even in error.

Examples:

• A square circle
• The son of a barren woman (vandhyāputraḥ)
• Horns on a rabbit
• Flowers in the sky

These are utterly impossible — they don’t exist in any time, under any condition, not even as illusions.

TLDR;

• Satyam is that which never gets cancelled — like Brahman.
• Mithyā is that which shows up but is eventually cancelled — like the world, dreams, illusions.
• Atyanta-abhāva is totally non-existent, not even illusory.