What are the five modulations or tendencies of the mind?
They are:
- Pramāṇa - Wanting proof for everything
- Viparyaya - Lack of comprehension
- Vikalpa - Imagination
- Nidrā - Sleep
- Smriti - Memory
pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni ॥7॥
प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥७॥
The different kinds of proof the mind requires are experiential proof, inferential proof, and scriptural proof.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 1.7
Pratyakṣa means obvious, experiential. Our mind constantly wants to have a direct, solid experiential proof.
Anumāna means an inference, a guess. When there is smoke, you infer that there was a fire.
Āgama is the proof the mind takes from scriptures or from books. The Materia Medica tells us about combinations of herbs that are good to treat diseases. Since all of this is written in the Materia Medica, we accept it as proof.
Yoga is when you drop this search and abide in the Self. Abiding in the Self does not need proof. Truth cannot be understood through proof. God is beyond proof. You cannot prove God, nor can you disprove God.
Proof is connected to logic and logic is very limited in its purview. This is the same with enlightenment, and with love. Love can never be proved or disproved. This is not in the realm of the Seer (the draṣṭuḥ). The Seer is beyond proof.
viparyayo mithyājñānam atadrūpapratiṣṭham ॥8॥
विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानम् अतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम् ॥८॥
Viparyaya is wrong knowledge. You are stuck in your mind due to a wrong perception.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 1.8
Most of the time you impose your own ideas, views and feelings on others and you think that is how they are. This is called viparyaya. You have an inferiority complex or you suddenly see someone else behaving very arrogantly. They might not be arrogant and you are not being ill-treated by them. But you suddenly feel that you are being ill-treated. You are not respected because you do not respect yourself. You think that others do not respect you. This tendency of your mind is viparyaya. Suddenly, people feel that they are not being loved.
śabdajñānānupātī vastuśūnyo vikalpaḥ ॥9॥
शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः ॥९॥
It is a sort of hallucination followed in sequence by mere words or knowledge and which, in reality, is devoid of truth.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 1.9
Vikalpa is a sort of a hallucination. Nothing of that sort exists, just mere words, which do not carry much meaning, hover in the mind. This fantasy is called vikalpa, the third modulation or vr̥tti of the mind.
Vikalpa can be of two types. One could be a joyful, pleasurable fantasy and the other could be baseless fears. "What will happen if I die tomorrow? What if I have an accident?" These are all just sounds which have no value - baseless fears in the mind, or fantasies.
abhāvapratyayālambanā vr̥ttirnidra ॥10॥
अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा ॥१०॥
Nidrā or sleep is that modulation of the mind in which it takes recourse to a content-less state.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 1.10
When the mind has no content, it gets into a state called sleep.
anubhūtaviṣayāsaṁpramoṣaḥ smr̥tiḥ ॥11॥
अनुभूतविषयासंप्रमोषः स्मृतिः ॥११॥
Smriti refers to those experiences that your mind could not let go of.
- Patañjali Yoga Sutra 1.11
These five vrittis are not bad. It is not that they should not be there. The Maharishi says yogaścitta vṛtti nirodhaḥ - all these vrittis should be done away with.
<<Purpose of Yoga is to Be One With the Self
Dealing with Modulations of the Mind>>
(This is part of a series of knowledge sheets based on Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's commentaries on Patanjali Yoga Sutras.)
