1.8 · The Two Moons

Error is false knowledge, resting on a form that is not the thing itself.

Word by word

viparyayaḥ

error, reversal

mithyā

false

jñānam

knowledge

atad

not that

rūpa

form

pratiṣṭham

resting on, based on

Where it fits

Error is defined against valid knowing (1.7): Vyāsa says it is not valid because valid knowing overturns it. He then names this error as avidyā with five parts, the afflictions of 2.3, to be treated with the impurities of the mind (Woods p. 24). So 1.8 quietly introduces the kleśas that Book II sets out.

Reading

Error is defined against valid knowing. Vyāsa asks why it is not valid, and answers: because valid knowing overturns it. His example: seeing two moons is overturned by clearly seeing one. Error gives way to valid knowing, whether by perception, inference or reliable testimony (1.7). Vyāsa then identifies this kind of error with the five afflictions of 2.3, which begin with avidyā, not-seeing. An everyday mistake of perception and the deepest mistake about who we are turn out to be the same kind of thing.

Vyāsa

“Why is error not valid knowing? Because valid knowing overturns it. … For example, seeing two moons is overturned by seeing one moon, which has a real object.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 24.

Practice

Recall a recent time you were sure and wrong: a face in a crowd, a message misread, a sound in the night. Write down what the mistake rested on and what corrected it. Notice how complete the error felt from the inside.

A question to sit with

What might you be seeing double?

Key ideas

vṛtti (movement of the mind), avidyā (ignorance), kleśa (afflictions)