Adṛshṭa
Adṛshṭa · a-dṛshṭa, “the unseen”
Grammar: neuter noun; a (not) with dṛshṭa (seen): “the unseen”.
Meaning: the unseen force of one’s fortune, which brings happiness and sorrow.
In the scriptures: In the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, at Kailāsa, Bṛhaspati speaks to Bhagavān Śiva (as Nārāyaṇa tells Nārada). Jīvas take many births through karma, and in each birth they experience the fruit of the karma they did; karma does not perish on Bhārata-bhūmi without its fruit being experienced. Some say that happiness, sorrow, fear and grief come to humans from the karma they did; others say they come from their fortune, adṛshṭa. Bṛhaspati gives three causes: karma, adṛshṭa and svabhāva, one’s nature. A human is himself the cause of karma; that karma is the cause of adṛshṭa; jīvas get their svabhāva from the karma they did in a former birth; and happiness, sorrow, fear and grief are born from one’s own ātmā. The jīva with guṇas always experiences the karmas he has done, while the nirguṇa Paramātmā, higher than Prakṛti, remains the witness of all. That Paramātmā alone is to be served by all jīvas; he gives all fruits to all, and he creates adṛshṭa, svabhāva and karma (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60).
Related terms: Karma · Svabhāva · Bṛhaspati
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60