वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टा अक्लिष्टाः ॥ ५॥

1.5 vṛttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭā akliṣṭāḥ

vṛttayaḥ - fluctuation, modifications of the mind, whirling

pañcatayyaḥ - fivefold

kliṣṭā - painful, lit. hard, difficult, obstructing

akliṣṭāḥ - painless, not painful, non-obstructing

These fluctuations are fivefold; painful or painless

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः ॥ ६॥

1.6 pramāṇaviparyayavikalpanidrāsmṛtayaḥ

pramāṇa - right knowledge, valid means of learning

viparyaya – wrong knowledge, misconception

vikalpa – verbal delusion, conceptualization, imagination

nidrā - sleep

smṛtayaḥ - memory

The five fluctuations are right knowledge, misconception, verbal delusion, sleep, and memory

प्रत्यक्शानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥ ७॥

1.7 pratyakśānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni

pratyakśā – direct perception, sense evidence

ānumānā - inference

āgamāḥ – lit. ‘coming up’, tradition, testimony, , scripture, revelation

pramāṇāni – are the sources of right knowledge, valid means of learning

The sources of right knowledge are direct perception, inference, and testimony

विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमः अतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठमः ॥ ८॥

1.8 viparyayo mithyājñānamḥ atadrūpapratiṣṭhamḥ

viparyayaḥ - misconception, misperception

mithyā – false, erroneous, illusory, mistaken

jñānam – knowledge, idea

atad - not that, not its own

rūpa -form, appearance

pratiṣṭhamḥ – based, steadfast, foundation

Misconception is false knowledge [of something which is] not based on its true form

शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः ॥ ९॥

1.9 śabdajñānānupātī vastuśūnyo vikalpaḥ

śabda – sound, word

jñānā – knowledge, cognition

ānupātī – arises, following

vastu – object, reality

śūnya – without any, empty

vikalpaḥ – conceptualization, verbal delusion, imagination

Verbal delusion arises from the knowledge of words without [any basis (object) in] reality

अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा ॥ १०॥

1.10 abhāvapratyayālambanā vṛttirnidrā

abhāva - non-occurrence, nothingness, without, natural absence

pratyaya - notion, presented idea, content of mind, conscious

ālambana - founded on, support, depending on

vṛttir - fluctuation, modification of the mind

nidrā -sleep

Sleep is the modification supported by the natural absence of waking conscious

अनुभूतविषयासंप्रमोषः स्मृतिः ॥ ११॥

1.11 anubhūtaviṣayāsaṃpramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ

anubhūta - perceived, experienced, apprehended

viṣayā - objects of sensory experience

āsaṃpramoṣaḥ - exact presentation, not forgotten, not allowing to slip away, non-escaping, non-stealing

smṛtiḥ - memory of a thing experienced, recall, remembering

Memory is the non-escaping of experienced objects

Sri Patanjali states that there are five forms of vrittis and that they are either painful or painless. He does not say painful and pleasurable. He does not say that certain ones are good and others bad, he merely states their existence and that they can possibly bring pain. His reason for this statement was twofold, first to further explain the workings of the mind and highlight another reason why we would want to control these fluctuations of the mind and not allow them to control us. Second is so we can draw a distinction between the two classes as we begin to practice the yoga disciplines. The fluctuations cannot all be controlled at once so wouldn’t’ make sense to begin with the ones that obviously bring pain. Sri Swami Satchidananda liked to translate this sutra as selfish or selfless instead of painful and painless. The reason being this, that selfish acts, thoughts, and words ultimately bring pain to us, however, true selfless actions allow us to remain in our peace, unafflicted by the pain of selfishness. Painful fluctuations may not bring immediate pain, however all of the fluctuations of the mind can ultimately bring pain. In a later sutra Sri Patanjali states that to the man of discriminating knowledge all is painful due to the fear and anxiety over the potential loss of even the pleasurable situations. Past pleasure becomes painful because of cravings for more and so how can any happiness be lasting if its dependant on our ever fickle minds and emotions.

Sri Patanjali then identifies these fluctuations of consciousness as right knowledge, wrong knowledge, verbal delusion, sleep, and memory. Again remember that he does not say that these are good or bad, they just are.

Sri Patanjali then declares that the forms of right knowledge are direct perception, inference, and testimony. I would add that in order for any of these to truly be right knowledge we must begin to recognize whether or not we allowing these experiences to be “colored” by preconceived notions and such. Direct perception is any information received through firsthand experience, such as sticking your hand in a fire and learning that it hurts and that you shouldn’t do it again. Inference is witnessing someone else stick their hand in a fire and getting burned, and drawing a conclusion based on that, that you shouldn’t stick your hand in the fire. Testimony is receiving valuable information from someone who knows all about fire and the damage it can do. Please understand I am not trivializing this very import piece of information that Sri Patanjali is giving us. As a practitioner direct experience is the goal we are after but until then. We can learn from a good teacher who has actual experience not just intellectual knowledge of the topic. Scriptural testimony whether in the form of a sacred text or the words of a realized being is our guidepost s in this exciting adventure and thus also considered valid.

Misconception, misinterpretation, this is where the “coloring” of experiences by preconceived ideas begins to come to play. This is what is being referred to as wrong knowledge. The traditional example given in commentaries has been that of walking into a dimly lit room and becoming frightened by a snake in the corner of the room which in reality is a coiled rope. For people living in rural India and especially in earlier times this example makes perfect sense. Snakes are abundant in India and thousands of people are bitten and die every year, so the natural reaction is snake. In fact this is the most natural thing for our brains to do.

The human brain is not much more than a complicated biological filing system. We take in information through the senses and the brain files it away. The next time we experience anything the brain attempts to find a corresponding file so that we can draw a conclusion as to what the new experience means. This was a great survival tool for early man. You see your friend eaten by a tiger, and the next time you see a tiger you know to stay away. However this is a knee jerk reaction. As humans we tend to pride ourselves on our superior thinking abilities, however for most people we still act from that knee jerk cave man mentality. We allow our thoughts to become “colored” by preconceived notions of the world and other people. Thus we never experience things as they truly are. We have a “lousy” relationship with someone and our caveman brain jumps to the assumption that all relationships are that way or all relationships with people of that gender are that way or I couldn’t fix that person so I’m going to find another just like them to fix. Many of our fears and prejudices are founded right here. We have incomplete information about a thing, person, or group of people, our minds attempt to find corresponding information which in itself is probably incomplete and we are left with what in all probability is a incorrect assumption. If we can stop jumping to conclusions without complete unbiased information and just experience things as they arise for what they truly are we will all be much happier.

Verbal delusion is the utmost expression of misinterpretation and misconception. How often do we come to conclusions based on things we hear or read without a basis in reality, no real facts or experience to back it up? Our “political spin doctors” are masters of verbal delusion, using it to their advantage. A more personal example could be, you listen to a speech, the speaker may think they made a particular point very clear, however in reality everyone in the audience walked away with many differing opinions, because even though each person heard the same speech, they, including the speaker heard it through their own little filter of preconceived ideas. I also like to include gossip as a form of verbal delusion. Almost always the gossip is based on incomplete or even outright wrong information, yet people will accept it as gospel.

A very interesting and sometimes confusing mental state that Sri Patanjali mentions is sleep. Remember we are talking about states of consciousness. Even in deep, dreamless sleep consciousness is present. We awake with a sense of continuity, you may even state “I slept well” or “I didn’t sleep well”. There is awareness that ‘you’ existed and had some type of experience during sleep. That experience leaves an impression in the mind just as much as any of the other states.

Memory is another of the states which Sri Patanjali mentions that probably doesn’t need much commentary. We should however recognize that memory is not included as a source of right knowledge. An example of why would be siblings growing up in the same household and having totally different memories of the events of their lives together. Again this is an example of the action our individual filters can have on all the ordinary situations in life. I should also mention that dreaming is a form of memory in which the mind continues to try to make sense of the events of the day by regurgitating things back up often in symbolic form in an effort to find resolution to the thoughts, and desires of the past.

These are five forms of vrittis which include innumerable subclasses of actions and reactions which cloud our minds, filtering reality and impairing our judgment. All of them will bring temporary pleasure or pain, depending on environment, time and the individual person. By recognizing the vrittis, not judging them, we can begin to clear the mind of the chatter and perceive the universe