mithya

Mithya is a Sanskrit term used in Indian philosophy to describe the ontological status of the phenomenal world. Etymologically, it is related to falsehood or illusion, and in philosophical use it denotes something that appears real but lacks independent, self-sustained reality.

In Advaita Vedanta, mithya characterizes the world as experienced and perceived but not ultimately real. The world is said to be dependent on Brahman and on ignorance (avidya); through maya, appearances of multiplicity and separate individual selves are superimposed upon the one reality. Thus, while everyday experience holds practical truth (vyavaharika truth), the ultimate truth lies in Brahman, and the world is considered mithya in the sense of non-autonomous existence.

Threefold reality terminology is sometimes used in Hindu philosophy: sat (existence), asat (non-existence), and mithya (dependent or illusory). Different schools interpret mithya differently. In Advaita, it sits between true existence and non-existence, being real relative to perception but not in ultimate terms. Some commentators describe mithya as "empirically real" for practical purposes, while others argue it is neither true nor false in an absolute sense. The relation between mithya and maya is also debated: maya refers to the power that veils or organizes perception, with mithya serving as the ontological status of the world created by that power.

Historically, the term is central in Advaita and appears in the works of Gaudapada and Adi Shankaracharya, among others. Its precise interpretation has been a matter of scholarly discussion and varies across Hindu philosophical traditions.