Patanjali Yoga Sutra
Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.
Chapter 1, Sutra 5
Vrttayah-Pancatayyah-Klista-Aklistah
Although the controllable modifications are many,
They fall into five varieties of which some are Klista and the rest Aklista.
Vrttayah : the vrittis are
Pancatayyah : fivefold;of five kinds
Klista : negative / painful
Aklista : positive / not painful
Yoga is concerned with stopping
the mind. The mind is the cause of pain, suffering and all the problems. So
long as the mind is operative, there is no peace. They analyze what is the
function of the mind. Apparently it gives us right knowledge; occasionally the
wrong things also are given. Imagination is there, sleep, memory, etc.
Traditionally these are the things that happen in the mind. All these are
dangerous. What we call as right knowledge need not be very right – at a certain
angle, certain education, certain age, we believe something as correct, but at
other stages it may look very wrong. So in whatever way the mind will work, it
will be handicapped. We carry on in the life on the basis of these handicaps.
We do not carry on on the basis of truth, the reality, the fact. I see
something and say this is that. Whether my eyesight is correct, I don’t know.
The same is with our thinking. That is why the suggestion is to stop Citta. You can’t keep dressing it up and
making it ready. You make it a little ready and again it gets spoilt. That is
the way it operates.
It is like the story of a one eyed man, coming to a
country of blind people. Naturally he sees with one eye and the blind don’t see
at all. The blind don’t see that it is sunlight and there is a river on the
way. They have a different way of functioning. The man with one eye sees. He is
trying to warn them – ‘Don’t do this!’ and these blind people for ages have
been doing like that and they have survived and carried on. The one eyed man gets
on their nerves – every time trying to correct them, advice them. It reaches
such a pitch, that they decide that they should kill this one eyed man. He is a
nuisance. So they all get together to murder him. The poor one eyed man starts
running – luckily he has one eye. He escapes. That’s the story by H. G. Wells.
The Citta is the problem.
We are totally depending on this
mind. Our thinking, decisions, actions are all based on the mind. This mind is
not a good mind. It is a faulty mind. All that is produced by this mind is not
dependable. So naturally it will make mistakes and cause pain. We see this pain
throughout life, but we never understand that it is the result of the faulty mind.
We make such strong decisions – ‘I saw it with my own eyes, it is a fact.’
Whether the eyes are in a good order we don’t know. Whether the object is seen
from the right angle we don’t know. The object can be at such distances like
the sun, the moon, that we can’t know them. Yet we claim we have seen it. So in
our life we are functioning, we carry on.
The Sutra talks of what type of
thoughts we have amd what kind of activities the mind is doing. They are either positive or negative.
Positive is Aklishta, negative is Klishta. Positive will mean those
actions which reduce the Klesas – ego
should reduce, ignorance should reduce, attachment, hatred, selfishness should
reduce. If such thoughts are coming which are helping to reduce your ego, we
should encourage them. Yet whether good or bad, they are activities of mind. Ultimately
they both have to be removed. To remove negativity is difficult. One has to
come from negativity to positivity. Ego is the last thing to go. One has to
become humble, see good in others, see wrong in oneself – this training has to
be done. Then ultimately it will be removed. We will have to work towards it.
You can’t give direction to a
running horse. You have to first stop that horse, and then direct him. That is
happening with our mind. Klishta
thoughts are too fast. They have speed, they multiply very fast. Anger, worry,
pain overpower us. First they should be stopped. Maharshi Patanjali was a philosopher, but more of a psychologist –
he understood the human mind. He understood that it is not easy to control the
mind. From the negative personality to change to a thoughtless state is
impossible. Total elimination of negative thoughts is not possible. They can be
gradually reduced. We have to keep a constant watch on our thoughts, activities
– check whether it is negative or positive – Klishta or Aklishta. If
it is Klishta, stop it. Don’t ever
pamper negative thinking. Do activities which will make us more humble, caring,
compassionate, tolerant and help us accept people as they are.
About Parisamvad
On every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, The Yoga Institute, Santacruz holds Parisamvad sessions - Free interactive sessions that are open to all. These session begin at 7:20 am and end around 7:45 am.
The Friday Parisamvad is dedicated to explanation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by our esteemed Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji.
