1.10 · The Rope Bed

Sleep is the movement of mind that rests on the experience of absence.

Word by word

abhāva

absence, non-being

pratyaya

experience, content of mind

ālambanā

resting on, supported by

vṛttiḥ

a movement of mind

nidrā

sleep

Where it fits

Sleep is the fourth movement. By counting it as a movement, Patañjali rules out reading the stilling of 1.2 as blankness. Vyāsa draws the conclusion: in absorption sleep must be stilled like any other thought (Woods p. 29). Sleep comes back at 1.38, where what it gives can serve as a support.

Reading

Counting sleep among the movements is a deliberate surprise: it means a blank mind is not yet stillness. Vyāsa's proof that sleep is an experience is simple. On waking we say 'I slept well, my mind is clear', or 'I slept badly, my mind is sluggish and wanders', or 'I slept heavily, my limbs are heavy'. We could not remember sleep like that unless something was experienced. So sleep too is to be stilled in absorption, and a heavy, empty mind is not meditation. Vyāsa treats dreams under memory (1.11), so this sūtra means dreamless sleep.

Vyāsa

“How so? [On waking we think:] 'I slept well. My mind is clear and makes my understanding sharp.' 'I slept badly. My mind is sluggish and wanders, unsettled.' 'I slept heavily, in a stupor. My limbs are heavy. My mind is tired, listless, as if stolen away.'”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 29.

Practice

Tomorrow morning, before you reach for your phone, lie still for one minute and ask how you slept. Use Vyāsa's three answers: clear and sharp, sluggish and wandering, or heavy and tired. Notice that you can answer at all.

A question to sit with

Are you resting, or going blank?

Where commentators disagree

Is deep sleep a movement of the mind, or simply the absence of movement?

Vyāsa

Sleep is a particular kind of experience. On waking we say 'I slept well' or 'I slept heavily, my limbs are heavy', and we could not remember this unless something was experienced. So in samādhi sleep, like any other idea, must be stilled. (Woods 1914, p. 29)

Vācaspati Miśra

Says thinkers disagree about whether sleep is a movement, which is why the sūtra states it outright. He rejects treating sleep as a mere absence like isolation, and adds that although sleep is single-pointed, its tamas makes it a foe of samādhi. (Woods 1914, pp. 29–30)

Bhoja

Agrees: sleep is a movement that arises when tamas overpowers the others and all objects are dropped. The proof is that on waking one recalls 'I slept pleasantly'. (Tatya 1885, pp. 8–9)

J. H. Woods

Explains that the point is aimed at thinkers who taught that sleep is the absence of a movement. He names some Vedāntins and Udayana. (Woods 1914, p. 29, n. 1)

Key ideas

vṛtti (movement of the mind), samādhi (absorption)