AjÃÂtivÃÂda (à ¤ à ¤Âà ¤¾à ¤¤à ¤¿à ¤µà ¤¾à ¤¦) is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of the Advaitin Hindu philosopher Gauá¸ÂapÃÂda. According to Gauá¸ÂapÃÂda, the Absolute (Brahman) is not subject to birth, change, or death. The Absolute is ajÃÂ, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent.
Gauá¸ÂapÃÂda's perspective is based on the MÃÂá¹Âá¸Âà «kya Upanishad, applying the philosophical concept of ajÃÂta to the inquiry of Brahman, showing that Brahman wholly transcends the conventional understanding of being and becoming. The concept is also found in MÃÂdhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy, as the theory of nonorigination.
AjÃÂtivÃÂda:
Taken together "ajÃÂtivÃÂda" means "The Doctrine of no-change" or "the Doctrine of no-origination".
The term "ajÃÂta" is similar to the term "anutpÃÂda" from Madhyamika Buddhism, which means "having no origin", "not coming into existence", "not taking effect", "non-production". This has led some scholars to believe that the concept of AjÃÂtivÃÂda itself could have been borrowed from Madhyamika Buddhism. However, it notably diverges from the main tenets of Buddhism, viz. Kà Âanikatva (momentariness) and PratëtyasamutpÃÂda (dependent origination) which all schools of buddhist philosophy accept as foundational. This distinction is further confirmed by Gaudapada's rejection of à Âà «nyatà(non-self) in favor of ÃÂtman (self).
"AjÃÂtivÃÂda" is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of Gaudapada. According to Gaudapada, the Absolute is not subject to birth, change and death. The Absolute is aja, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered Maya (unreal as it is transitory), and not absolutely existent.
According to Comans, Gaudapada's perspective is quite different from Madhyamika Buddhist philosophy. Gaudapada's perspective is based on the MÃÂá¹Âá¸Âà «kya Upanishad. In the MÃÂá¹Âá¸Âà «kya Karika, Gaudapada's commentary on the MÃÂá¹Âá¸Âà «kya Upanishad, Gaudapada sets forth his perspective. According to Gaudapada, Brahman cannot undergo alteration, so the phenomenal world cannot arise independently from Brahman. If the world cannot arise, yet is an empirical fact, then the world has to be an unreal (transitory) appearance of Brahman. And if the phenomenal world is a transitory appearance, then there is no real origination or destruction, only apparent origination or destruction. From the level of ultimate truth (paramÃÂrthatÃÂ) the phenomenal world is mÃÂyÃÂ, "illusion", apparently existing but ultimately not real.
In Gaudapada-Karika, chapter III, verses 46-48, he states that the quietened mind becomes one with Brahman and does not perceive of any origination:
Acknowledgeing the strong Buddhist influences, but arguing for the need of an "unchangeable permanent reality," Karmakar opinions that the ajÃÂtivÃÂda of Gaudhapada has nothing in common with the Sà «nyavÃÂda concept in Buddhism. While the language of Gaudapada is undeniably similar to those found in Mahayana Buddhism, Coman states that their perspective is different because unlike Buddhism, Gaudapada is relying on the premise of "Brahman, Atman or Turiya" exists and is the nature of absolute reality.
Ramana Maharshi gave a translation in Tamil of GaudapadaâÂÂs MÃÂá¹Âá¸Âà «kya Upanishad Karika, chapter two, verse thirty-two:
According to David Godman, the ajata doctrine implies that since the world was never created, there are also no jivas within it who are striving for or attaining liberation. Ramana Maharshi regarded this as "the ultimate truth."
Advaita took over from the Madhyamika the idea of levels of reality. Usually two levels are being mentioned, namely saá¹Âvá¹Âti-satya, "the empirical truth", and paramÃÂrtha-satya, "ultimate truth". According to Plott,
The distinction between the two truths (satyadvayavibhÃÂga) was fully expressed by the Madhyamaka-school. In NÃÂgÃÂrjuna's Mà «lamadhyamakakÃÂrikàit is used to defend the identification of dependent origination (pratëtyasamutpÃÂda) with emptiness (à Âà «nyatÃÂ):
Shankara uses sublation as the criterion to postulate an ontological hierarchy of three levels:
It is at the level of the highest truth (paramÃÂrtha) that there is no origination. Gaudapada states that, from the absolute standpoint, not even "non-dual" exists.
Many scholars, states Richard King, designate Madhyamaka Buddhism as Ajativada. The concept Ajati, he adds, exists in both Vedanta and Buddhism, but they are different in the following way:
Ajativada in Madhyamaka refers to its doctrine that things neither originate nor is there cessation. This is also called the theory of non-origination of Madhyamaka.