adrishta

   Adrishta literally means the “unseen,” a category in MIMAMSA and VAISHESHIKA traditions.

   In Mimamsa the term refers to any invisible result of a ritual act that accrues to a person; it bears fruit upon that person’s death. Adrishta has lent itself to extensive commentary in the Mimamsa literature. It is intangible and ineffable, but also the instrument through which Vedic rites come to fruition.

   In Vaisheshika, the term is sometimes synony-mous with adharma, the equally invisible negative karmic accrual. In a larger sense in Vaisheshika, adrishta is the unknown quality of things and of the soul; it brings about the cosmic order and arranges for souls according to their merits and demerits.

   Further reading: Arthur B. Keith, The Karma-Mimamsa (London: Oxford University Press, 1921); S. N. Klos-termaier and K. Klaus, A Survey of Hinduism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989); Karl H. Potter, Indian Metaphysics and Epistemology: The Tradi-tion of Nyaya-Vaisesika Up to Gangesa (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1977).