UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Abhava is introduced to explain cognitions and statements about what is not there, like “there is no pot on the floor.” Nyaya-Vaisheshika treats absence as a real category with its own subtypes, such as prior, posterior and mutual non-existence. Recognising abhava allows the system to handle negative facts systematically. Thus the category mentioned in the stem is abhava.

Option A:
Option A, guna, stands for positive qualities like colour or taste and does not capture the notion of absence.

Option B:
Option B, karma, means motion or action inhering in substances and again concerns positive features.

Option C:
Option C is correct because abhava literally means “non-being” and neatly labels the structured ways in which something can be absent.

Option D:
Option D, dravya, refers to substances that exist and bear qualities; it is opposed to non-existence.