Acicchakti
By Swami Harshananda
Acicchakti literally means ‘non-sentient power of Brahman’.
Perceiving the solid world with our senses is a wonderful phenomenon. The unseen Power behind it is a deep mystery. The quest for the mode by which this unseen Power has evolved into this tangible world has resulted in several philosophical schools or darśanas. Of these, the Vedānta Darśana of Bādarāyaṇa has attracted the maximum number of commentators one of whom is Nimbārka[1]
According to him, Brahman, the highest Reality, is a personal God, identified with Kṛṣṇa or Hari. Brahman has two powers
- Cit-śakti - sentient power, i.e., the individual souls
- Acit-śakti - non-sentient power, i.e., nature
At the beginning of creation, He manifests these two powers. From acit-śakti or acicchakti, there is a gradual evolution of the entire material world. This acicchakti manifests itself in three different forms:
- The prākṛta or what is derived from the prakṛti, primal matter, responsible for the material world.
- The aprākṛta, the non-material aspect, the stuff of the celestial bodies & the regions where the Lord & the freed souls live.
- Kāla or time.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore