This term in the sense of ”amoral” or ”karmically neutral”, does not occur in the old sutta texts, while it is found in Pts.M. (e.g. I, 79ff). It plays an important role in the Abh. Canon (e.g. Dhs.) and the philosophical commentaries.
lit.”indeterminate” - i.e. neither determined as karmically ”wholesome” nor as ”unwholesome” - are the karmically neutral, i.e. amoral, states of consciousness and mental factors. They are either mere karma-results (vipa^ka, q.v.), as e.g. all the sense perceptions and the mental factors associated therewith, or they are karmically independent functions (kiriya-citta, q.v.), i.e. neither karmic nor karma-resultant. See Tab. I. (App.).