अव्यक्त

Avyakta (अव्यक्त) means what is not manifest: what the eye cannot see and the mind cannot grasp. The word appears in the Gita with three senses.

In chapter 2 the self is called unmanifest, beyond thought and unchanging (Gita 2.25). In chapter 8 it names the unmanifest state from which creation comes (Gita 8.18), and beyond it a higher, eternal unmanifest. This one is called unmanifest and imperishable, the highest goal and the Lord's own abode (Gita 8.20, Gita 8.21). In chapter 12 it is the Reality that is worshipped without a form (Gita 12.3).

Common misreading: taking "unmanifest" to mean what does not exist, or an empty void.

Better sense: the unmanifest is not shown, yet it is real and pervades all. In chapter 9 the Lord says that this whole world is pervaded by Him in His unmanifest form (Gita 9.4).

In chapter 12 Arjuna asks whether the worshippers of the unmanifest or the devotees are better. The Lord answers that the road of the unmanifest also leads to Him but is hard for those who live in a body. The whole passage is read in Devotion or the Unmanifest.