are the terms used by Patanjali to indicate the types or kinds of transformation which
the mind passes through in its processes of concentration, meditation and samadhi—
which is samyama.
When we fix our mind or the will—the entirety of our being—in the practice of
samyama, there is a struggle going on in the mind. This struggle itself is a
transformation. This struggle, or the peculiar activity that is going on in the mind, is
a kind of modification which is brought about by the mind, within itself, by the
reconstitution of its components. When milk becomes curd, there is a reconstitution
of the content of milk. There is a rearrangement of the inner essences of the milk, so
that the milk becomes curd. Some internal transformation takes place. It is not an
external transformation. Nobody comes from outside and interferes with the milk—
inwardly something happens. Likewise, here some transformation takes place
inwardly.
The first that is mentioned is what is known as nirodha parinama, the
transformation of the mind in respect of the inhibition of the vrittis, or the
repression of all the psychoses or modifications in respect of the objects of sense. The
first thing that the mind does when it practises samyama is to put down all the
vrittis concerning the objects of sense. For this purpose it has to generate within
itself another vritti. That vritti, which has the power to subjugate the other vrittis in
regard to objects of sense, undergoes a transformation within itself, and that
particular condition of the mind where it is actively busy putting down all the other
vrittis except the vritti of samyama is called nirodha parinama. Vyutthāna nirodha
saṁskārayoḥ abhibhava prādurbhāvau nirodhakṣaṇa cittānvayaḥ nirodhapariṇāmaḥ (III.9)
is an aphorism of Patanjali. It means, literally, just this: vyutthana is the rising of the
vrittis in respect of objects, nirodha is the suppression of those vrittis, and the
impressions produced in the mind during the process of this opposition of the two
types of vrittis is the samskara mentioned in this sutra. Nirodha is also a samskara.
Vyutthāna nirodha saṁskārayoḥ abhibhava prādurbhāvau (III.9). Abhibhava is putting
down, subjugating, controlling or repressing; pradurbhavau is the rising, coming up
to the surface of active consciousness. There is a repeated activity going on in the
mind in the form of an opposition between these two types of vrittis in the mind. On
one side there is an attempt by external or objective vrittis to enter the mind. On the
other side there is an activity of the mind which tries to drive away all these vrittis. At
that time, the mind identifies itself with a particular condition. That condition with
which the mind identifies itself at that particular moment of internal transformation,
when it puts down the vrittis in respect of the objects of sense, is called nirodha
parinama. Or, to put it in more plain language, we may say the rajasic and the
tamasic vrittis are put down, and the sattvic vrittis come to the surface.
The vrittis which try to prevent the entry of those vrittis connected with the objects
outside are the sattvic vrittis. The vrittis which are trying to enter the mind and
disturb this concentration are the rajasic and tamasic vrittis. There is a repeated
opposition going on between these two kinds of vrittis. We are perpetually at war
with a part of the mind; it is the mind itself which is at war within itself—between
two aspects of itself. The concentrating aspect, or the sattvic aspect—the integrating
aspect, the samyama aspect, or the yoga aspect—is one thing. The sensory aspect,
the objective aspect, the external aspect, the contact aspect, the pleasure aspect—
these are the other vrittis.