vrttayah pancatayyah klistaklistah
Patanjali describes the mind by the activities of the mind. There are five activities and each one of them can be beneficial or cause problems. Whether these activities are beneficial or cause suffering cannot be immediately seen. Time alone will confirm their effects.
Vrtti – fluctuation
pancataya – five fold
klista – afflicted, from root word klis to trouble/ be troubled
aklistah – non-afflicted
We will move on to the next sutra which describes the activities of the mind.
pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah
The five activities are comprehension, misapprehension, imagination, deep sleep and memory.
Each mental activity has its own characteristics and although not always apparent, they can be individually recognized. Their dominance and effects on our behavior and attitudes combine to make up our personalities.
pramana – valid cogintion from pra + ma which is to measure
viparyaya – misconception, from vi + pari + i which is to go
vikalpa – conceptualisation from vi+ klp which is befit/serve
nidra – sleep from ni + dra ‘ to sleep’
smrti – memory from smr which is to remember
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Vivarana (a commentary on yoga-sutra attributed to Sankara), states that “there is no effective means of inhibiting them [mental fluctuations] one by one”, because they are too many, infinite; and only through practice and detachment , which oppose them in bloc, does inhibition succeed.
Is Patañjali identifying ‘vrtti-s’ in this way (klista and aklista) in order to give us (later) different approaches to deal with them?
Hola Hanuman!
You are right in observing that the way Patañjali has set up the sutras here are logical. His aim is to provide a road map to still the mind and attain the state of Yoga.
I like the explanation given by Sankara. The Vrttis (fluctuations) are infinite and there are no effetive means to inhibit them.