bhedaabheda

Bhedaabheda, also spelled bhedabheda or bheda-abheda, is a Sanskrit term meaning “difference and non-difference.” It designates a family of doctrines in Indian philosophy that hold that ultimate reality embodies both unity and multiplicity. In these views, the individual selves and the observable world are not completely separate from the supreme principle, yet they are not exhaustively identical to it.

The concept appears in multiple traditions, with particular prominence in Kashmir Shaivism and certain Vaishnava contexts. In Kashmir Shaivism, bhedaabheda is used to describe the relationship between Shiva (or Śiva) and the universe: creation is a real manifestation within Śiva’s energy, presenting difference, while remaining non-different at the level of ultimate reality. The jiva is likewise seen as both a distinct experiential mode and an expression of the divine underlying reality.

A closely related formulation in Vaishnavism is achintya bheda-bheda, articulated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This doctrine holds that the Divine and the living beings are simultaneously one and different in ways that are inconceivable (achintya). While not identical in form, their relationship is not purely separative but rooted in a single divine reality.

In modern scholarship, bhedaabheda is often discussed as a way to theorize how monistic or non-dual traditions account for multiplicity in experience and ontology without abandoning the ultimate unity of the divine. See also Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and achintya bheda-bheda.