Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t23.20

c7.s3.t23.20

(ii) If Nirvāṇa be abhāva (non-existence), how can it be spoken of as being without any substratum and without any reference to a bhāva (existent thing)? For no question of substratum (upādāna) can arise in regard to a non-existent thing. Against this may be raised the objection that the son of a barren woman or the horn of a hare is also said to be an abhāva (absence) without any positive counterpart. Nāgārjuna meets this by saying that abhāva (non-existence) implies a change (anyathābhāva) undergone by a thing which is existent,¹ while the son of a barren woman or the horn of a hare is only imagination (kalpanā) without implying the existence of any object. As there can be no abhāva (absence) without a positive counterpart, so Nirvāṇa is not abhāva.