Abhava Categories in Nyaya – UGC NET Question

Nyāya distinguishes prior non existence (prāgabhāva), posterior non existence (pradhvaṃsābhāva), mutual non existence (anyonyābhāva) and absolute non existence (atyantābhāva). Eternal absence of impossible entities such as “horns of a hare” is the standard example of atyantābhāva, since such things are absent in all places and at all times.

Option A:
Option A reverses the terms: the absence after destruction is pradhvaṃsābhāva, not prāgabhāva.

Option B:
Option B also reverses: absence before production is prāgabhāva, not pradhvaṃsābhāva.

Option C:
Option C correctly matches atyantābhāva with the eternal absence of “horns of a hare” on any real animal.

Option D:
Option D misuses anyonyābhāva; mutual non existence concerns, for example, “pot is not cloth and cloth is not pot,” not the temporal absence of a pot on a floor.