1.5 · The Water Wheel

The movements are of five kinds, some afflicting and some not.

Word by word

vṛttayaḥ

the movements of mind

pañcatayyaḥ

fivefold, of five kinds

kliṣṭa

afflicted, causing affliction

akliṣṭāḥ

unafflicted, not causing affliction

Where it fits

Since the seer seems to take the shape of the movements (1.4), they must be understood before they can be stilled. Vyāsa introduces them as many and all to be stilled (Woods p. 16). They are first sorted by effect, afflicting or not, pointing ahead to the afflictions of 2.3. 1.6 gives their five kinds.

Reading

Before saying what the movements are, Patañjali sorts them by what they do to us. Afflicting movements arise from the kleśas of 2.3 and are the ground where karma accumulates. Unafflicting ones lean toward clear discernment. Vyāsa notes that a clear thought can arise in the middle of a stream of afflicted ones and stay clear. Movements leave impressions, and impressions give rise to movements: in his image, the wheel keeps turning. So the task is first to tell the two kinds apart.

Vyāsa

“Movements that are not afflicting stay so even when they fall into a stream of afflicting ones. … Movements alone create latent impressions of their own kind, and latent impressions create movements. So the wheel of movements and latent impressions turns without rest.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 17.

Practice

For the next hour, sort passing thoughts into two piles. Does this thought tighten something, such as craving, resentment or fear? Or does it help you see more clearly? Make a tally mark for each on a slip of paper. Notice the ratio without trying to change it.

A question to sit with

Is this thought tightening you or freeing you?

Key ideas

vṛtti (movement of the mind), kleśa (afflictions), saṃskāra (latent impressions), karma (action and its residue)