Ajātivāda

Ajātivāda is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of the Advaitin Hindu philosopher Gauḍapāda. According to Gauḍapāda, the Absolute is not subject to birth, change, or death. The Absolute is ajā, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent.
Gauḍapāda's perspective is based on the Māṇḍūkya Upanishad, applying the philosophical concept of ajāta to the inquiry of Brahman, showing that Brahman wholly transcends the conventional understanding of being and becoming. The concept is also found in Mādhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy, as the theory of nonorigination.

Etymology

Ajātivāda:

"A" means "not", or "non" as in Ahimsa, non-harm
"Jāti" means "birth", "creation", or "change"; it may refer to physical birth, but also to the origin or change of mental phenomena
"Vāda" means "doctrine"

Taken together "ajātivāda" means "The Doctrine of no-change" or "the Doctrine of no-origination".
The term "ajāta" is similar to the term "anutpāda" 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 Ajātivāda itself could have been borrowed from Madhyamika Buddhism. However, it notably diverges from the main tenets of Buddhism, viz. Kśanikatva and Pratītyasamutpāda which all schools of buddhist philosophy accept as foundational. This distinction is further confirmed by Gaudapada's rejection of Śūnyatā in favor of Ātman.

Usage

Gaudapada

"Ajātivāda" 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, and not absolutely existent.
According to Comans, Gaudapada's perspective is quite different from Madhyamika Buddhist philosophy. Gaudapada's perspective is based on the Māṇḍūkya Upanishad. In the Māṇḍūkya Karika, Gaudapada's commentary on the Māṇḍūkya 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 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 the phenomenal world is māyā, "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 ajātivāda of Gaudhapada has nothing in common with the Sūnyavāda 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

Ramana Maharshi gave a translation in Tamil of Gaudapada’s Māṇḍūkya 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."

Levels of truth

Advaita took over from the Madhyamika the idea of levels of reality. Usually two levels are being mentioned, namely saṃvṛti-satya, "the empirical truth", and paramārtha-satya, "ultimate truth". According to Plott,
The distinction between the two truths was fully expressed by the Madhyamaka-school. In Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā it is used to defend the identification of dependent origination with emptiness :
Shankara uses sublation as the criterion to postulate an ontological hierarchy of three levels:

, the absolute level, "which is absolutely real and into which both other reality levels can be resolved". This experience can't be sublated by any other experience.
, or samvriti-saya, "our world of experience, the phenomenal world that we handle every day when we are awake". It is the level in which both jiva and Iswara are true; here, the material world is also true.
, "reality based on imagination alone". It is the level in which appearances are actually false, like the illusion of a snake over a rope, or a dream.

It is at the level of the highest truth that there is no origination. Gaudapada states that, from the absolute standpoint, not even "non-dual" exists.

Advaita Vedanta and Madhyamaka Buddhism

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.