hetumat – proceeding from a cause (caused)
anitya – transient
vyakta – Manifest
viparīta – opposite
avyakta – Unmanifest
The Manifest is that which is caused & transient and the Unmanifest is the opposite.
- The Manifest (Vyakta) has some distinctive qualities and features.
- It is caused. It is an effect with a pre-existing cause, as oil is caused by a sunflower seed.
- It is transient (not eternal). It is destructible like a clay pot can revert to being clay earth.
- It is not pervasive. Because it is caused and not eternal it cannot exist in everything. The clay pot is not present in the clay earth.
- It is active. It has mobility: that which makes it possible for a seed to become a tree.
- It is manifold. It is made up of parts like a tree that has texture (you can feel), form (you can see), aroma (you can smell) flavor (you can taste), and sound (you can hear).
- It is conjunct. Being made of parts implies that those parts somehow come together, that there are relationships between the parts. A tree is a union of its qualities ( of texture, form, aroma, taste, and sound). A forest is a union of trees.
- It is dependent. It cannot exist on its own, of its own accord. A tree is dependent on a seed, earth, water, light … and a forest is dependent on trees.
- It serves as a mark (an indicator of a cause). Because it is caused it serves as a mark of that which causes it. A mark is a doorway for inference. Through inference, a mark can point to something else – to a cause from which it (the effect) came. A tree points to the seed from which it came. If I follow this “trail of marks” I find it describes a converging path.
- It is subordinate. It is in a relationship of service with its cause. A leaf is obviously dependent on a tree, but it is also in service of the tree. The tree provides a need for a leaf.
- The Unmanifest (Avyakta) is the opposite:
- It is not caused
- Because it is not caused, it is eternal.
- Because it is eternal it is omnipresent, it pervades everything.
- Because it is omnipresent it is inactive. Since it is already omnipresent, where else would it need to go?
- It is one and causes everything else.
- It is a unity without parts and therefore can never be taken apart.
- It is independent since nothing causes it.
- It is not a mark of anything else and therefore does not merge into anything else. It is what lies at the end of the converging path of merging.
- It is its own master, it does not serve another.
| Manifest (Vyakta) | Unmanifest (Avyakta) |
|---|---|
| Caused | Not Caused |
| Transient | Eternal |
| Not Pervasive | Omnipresent |
| Active | Inactive |
| Manifold | One |
| Conjunct | Without Parts |
| Dependent | Independent |
| Serves as a Mark (linga) | Is Not a Mark |
| Subordinate | Is its Own Master |
