History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c25.s3.18

c25.s3.18

Like Ājīvikism the Pāñcaratra system has a doctrine of *niyati*, although in the latter it is not so important as in the theory of Makkhali Gosāla. "In the foetus like condition of the *manus* in the energy (*śakti*) of God there springs up from time-energy (*kāla-śakti*) the subtle destiny (*niyati*) which represents the universal ordering element (*sarva-niyāmakaḥ*)."⁴ Niyati is "not only what the Vaiśeṣikas call Diś, to wit the regulator of positions in space . . . but . . . it also regulates, as karmic necessity, the intellectual capacity, inclinations, and practical ability of every being."⁵ *Kāla*, "the mysterious power existing in time which urges everything on . . . is looked upon as originating from *niyati*."⁶