Thanks, Doc. Certainly that is the conservative advice and perhaps the wise advice.
Just to be clear, as I understand it, the India e-visa stamp is affixed to the passport in person at the airport upon arrival. So the "bureaucracy-minded" civil servant would have to look me in the eye, turn me away from entering the country, and send me back from whence I came. Not saying he wouldn't do that -- and shame on me to get there with that problem when the e-visa online process plainly requires affirming that I have two empty passport pages. But one might hope he'd try to find some way to help me. Penalty is so harsh -- visit canceled, trip in vain, all for lack of a blank piece of paper.
Rather different, I think, than a consulate in the US that can more readily decline to issue a visa.
One hears of South Africa being harsh in this regard. I haven't seen online reports of India being similarly strict. Not saying I want to be the first to report it.