What is the Meaning of Avyākṛta?

Non-definitive mental activities are those that belong neither to wholesome nor unwholesome karma. These mental activities cannot be recorded as wholesome karma nor as unwholesome karma. For instance, all mental activities of the eighth consciousness cannot be classified as wholesome or unwholesome karma. Regardless of what mental activities the eighth consciousness may have, they are not stored as karmic seeds and bear no karmic retribution.

Can the mental activities of the manas (the seventh consciousness) be stored as karmic seeds, bearing wholesome or unwholesome retribution? The Śūraṅgama Sūtra explains that in the distant past, prior to beginningless time, there were only two consciousnesses within a sentient being: the eighth consciousness and the manas. Although the manas possesses ignorance as well as wholesome and unwholesome mental factors, its mental activities cannot manifest. It cannot create karmic actions by itself, has no karmic seeds, and thus bears no retribution whatsoever, neither wholesome nor unwholesome.

Only when the eighth consciousness, due to the manas grasping outward, gives rise to the material world and the body composed of the six consciousnesses and the five aggregates, do karmic actions begin. The eighth consciousness then starts to record these karmic actions, storing them as karmic seeds, and the body of the five aggregates experiences wholesome and unwholesome retributions. However, these karmic actions of the six consciousnesses are entirely directed and influenced by the ignorance and the wholesome/unwholesome mental activities of the manas. Although the manas itself possesses wholesome and unwholesome mental activities and can direct the six consciousnesses to create wholesome or unwholesome karma, it cannot itself create any karmic actions. Therefore, it is designated as non-definitive. Although non-definitive, it possesses wholesome and unwholesome mental factors and can impel the six consciousnesses to create wholesome or unwholesome karma.

All mental activities of the six consciousnesses belong to karmic actions, are stored as karmic seeds, and bear karmic retribution. This includes wholesome mental activities, unwholesome mental activities, and mental activities that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome. All mental activities of the manas during the sleep of the five aggregates at night are not stored as karmic seeds and bear no retribution. Even if one dreams after falling asleep and creates wholesome or unwholesome karma within the dream, it is not stored as karmic seeds and bears no retribution. However, the mental activities of the manas can influence the behavior of the six consciousnesses. They are the dominant and primary factor in creating wholesome and unwholesome karma, being the master of karma creation. Therefore, it is truly the manas that receives the retribution. Superficially, it appears that the six consciousnesses receive the retribution, but in essence, it is the manas that receives it. The six consciousnesses can cease, can be replaced with new ones, and situations without the six consciousnesses are also karmic retribution bodies. For example, during sleep, at death, in the state of mental cessation (asamjñi-samāpatti), in unconsciousness, and in the samadhi of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), the manas alone receives the karmic retribution.