UPADHI

(Sanskrit: imposition), in Indian philosophy, particularly in the philosophical schools of Nyaya and Bhedabheda (Difference-Nondifference), the concept of adventitious limiting conditions. In logic, upadhi operates as follows: a syllogism requires a ground (hetu) to prove the proposition; e.g., that there is fire on the mountain is proved by the presence there of smoke. But this ground needs a qualification: there is fire without smoke. An upadhi is recognized for the hetu. Smoke being produced by fire in living wood, the hetu must be refined to: the presence of smoke wherever there is fire in living wood. In Bhedabheda philosophy, the concept of upadhi is applied to the relationship between brahma, the supreme being, and its product, the evolved world. The doctrine of difference-nondifference is held to account for this relation: brahma and world are nondifferent in their essence but are different inasmuch as limiting conditions such as time and space, adventitious to this essence, are imposed on it.