LAWS OF OPERATION OF VRITTIS

LAWS OF OPERATION OF VRITTIS
ONLY YOG – (केवल योग) THE ENDLESS
ULTIMATE FOR ALL ‘UltimatES’
YOGIC ENLIGHTENMENT

PREPARATION STAGE – UNDERSTANDING LAWS OF OPERATION OF VRITTI

To understand the laws of operation of VRITTIS (वृत्ति) the concept of five elements (TATTVA) is a CONVENIENCE to begin with. Our very being-the physical body and all our existent ideas and concepts are the offshoots of the VRITTIS of these five groups (JATI जाति) of elements only and these are EARTH (पृथ्वी), WATER (जल), AIR (वायु), FIRE (अग्नि) and SPACE (शून्य/आकाश). THESE ELEMENTS ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE LAWS OF OPERATION of VRITTIS (वृत्ति) and THUS CAME INTO EXISTENCE AS SUCH. The laws are

• THE LAW OF APARINAMI (अपरिणामी) and
• THE LAW OF COMPLETENESS (पूर्णता)

These are vital and complementary laws of any existence, animate or inanimate; concrete, minute, visible, invisible, with form, formless, discernible, non-discernible or abstract. These are ever operating and have been explained on the basis of existence of innumerable VRITTIS generally studied under five natural elements known by the name TATVA (तत्त्व) / BHOOT (भूत). The word has no relation with modern chemistry term ELEMENT. The laws can be stated as under:

LAW OF APARINAMI (अपरिणामी)

“UNDER ANY SET CONDITIONS OF ENVIRONMENT CAUSED BY VARIOUS VRITTIS (वृत्ति) PRESENT IN FIVE GROUPS (JATI जाति) OF NATURAL ELEMENTS (TATTVA तत्त्व / BHOOT भूत); ANY EXISTENCE APPEARS TO KEEP ON PASSING THROUGH SEQUENTIAL STAGES (AWASTHA अवस्था) THAT WILL ALWAYS HAVE PREDICTABLE, DEFINITE AND CONSTANT SYMPTOMS (LAKSHAN लक्षण) AND PROPERTIES (DHARM धर्म)”

LAW OF COMPLETENESS (POORNAMIDAM पूर्णमिदं)

“ANY STAGE OF VRITTIS AT ANY TIME IS COMPLETE IN IT AND IS EVER PRESENT AS SUCH.”
This law is an extension of the LAW OF APARINAMI and clarifies the aspect of non-result (अ - परिणाम) in the nomenclature by explaining it as “always the same result”

EXPLANATION OF THESE LAWS

Various deductions from the explanation of these laws are as follows:-

• ANY SET CONDITIONS OF ENVIRONMENT – These conditions are also forms of existence only that have come into being because of VRITTIS and are invariably unknown mainly because these are innumerable and human history till date is and will always remain infinitesimally small record of those efforts only that have been made to find out that vast knowledge of those set conditions and the emerging symptoms and properties. To be always in pursuit of finding out more and more is, therefore, the prime exhortation of Vedic knowledge.
• SET CONDITIONS denote the number and proportion of various VRITTIS that must be present for any function. This condition is determined by the RULES OF PRESENCE of VRITTIS discussed later under PREPARATION STAGE only.
• SET CONDITIONS ALSO INDICATE A CONTINUOUS AND ETERNAL PROCESS WITH DEFINITE SPEED – The speed of happenings or arriving at a stage can be slow as well as fast again to be decided by the VRITTIS. Patanjali hints that such VRITTIS have opposite symptoms of being high and low etc. and thus accelerate or retard a process as is done by temperature, pressure etc
• ANY EXISTENCE IS A SEQUENTIAL STAGE (KRAM क्रम) – Any existence includes all types of existence ranging from abstract to concrete, from invisible to visible, from inanimate to animate, from formless to with- form. This existence has got to be part of a sequence only. Otherwise it can’t exist
• ANY SEQUENTIAL STAGE IS THE RESULT OF THE PREVIOUS SEQUENTIAL STAGE – The stages are behaving as cause and effect and thus cannot come to any end and point towards a permanent cyclic phenomenon
• ANY SEQUENTIAL STAGE HAS PREDICTABILITY OF THE SYMPTOMS AND PROPERTIES – Each stage has thus definite and predictable symptoms and properties. A stage can be identified by symptoms and properties and vice versa.
• ANY SEQUENTIAL STAGE IS COMPLETE AND EVER PRESENT AS IT IS NOT WAITING TO BE COMPLETED – It appears to be undergoing changes only and the changed state is as complete and ever present as the earlier one or the next one. (PURNAMADAH PURNAMIDAM पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं) In other words nothing new comes into existence. All the sequential stages are ever present It was there, it is there and it will be there. A stage is complete if it has a definite structure, function and the purpose. Since there is no stage without these attributes all stages of existence are always COMPLETE (पूर्ण) in Vedic terminology. The details are discussed later under PREPARATION STAGE-UNDERSTANDING VRITTIS OPERATING IN NATURE AND INFLUENCING THE HUMAN BEINGS.

SCIENTIFIC AND SPIRITUALISTIC OUTLOOKS TOWARDS THE ABOVE LAWS

ALL THE SEQUENTIAL STAGES ARE EVER PRESENT – This is the basic fundamental scientific statement of the entire Vedic philosophy regarding creation. The law is highly significant because our entire knowledge is so far and will always be the result of dependence on this law only but it has never been accepted in letter by the scientist / researchers and never been accepted in spirit by the spiritualists. Science accepts that part of this law that deals with creation as some sequential existence and efforts are on to find out that sequence, but not this as ever present phenomenon that was there, is there and will always be there. The reason is “why to accept till it is experimented upon and proved”. And nothing can be proved till you accept to either prove or disprove something. SCIENCE is not willing to accept it as hypothesis even at present and most probably waiting for some Darwin, Freud or Einstein to theorize it as a sudden revelation so that experimentation can begin. Vedic hypotheses are not accepted worth experimentation by the modern science due to non-awareness of existence of such knowledge or considering it primitive due to allusive propaganda by the vested and ignorant interests alike. While spiritualist explanations believe in ever presence aspect of this law but are unable to explain the sequential aspect of creation as they shun experimentation and thus fail to deduce that monkey could be just a sequential stage (AWASTHA अवस्था) of existence as per this law only. The reason is “why to prove and why not to accept” ever present aspect only when it is given in AGAM (आगम) – the Holy Scriptures”. Thus both lean heavily on PROOF (PRAMAN प्रमाण) – an unreliable HUMAN VRITTI discussed in details later under (B) CLASSIFICATION – VRITTIS UNDER GENERAL GROUP – (MANOVRITTI मनोवृत्ति)

EXPLANATION OF CONCEPT OF DEATH

These laws operate in entire universe including all animate and inanimate existence. We are all aware of the laws of conservation - the indestructibility of matter and energy and the concept of eco cycles. But let me explain this Vedic law further with reference to ever puzzling and extensively debated topic of human mind – the unsolved mystery of life and death. I take the most acceptable definition of death. It is the absence of life. Now what is life? PRAN (प्राण) in Vedas and as per Patanjali has many ramifications but let me take it as the nearest existing word conveying some sense of life. So the PRAN (प्राण) is a kind of existence that is discernible in animate objects and conspicuous by its absence in inanimate objects. How does it come into discernible existence? Or, how does it become non- discernible? As per LAW OF APARINAMI, the explanation for PRAN will thus run as follows:

“Under some known / unknown set conditions of environment caused by various VRITTIS (वृत्ति) of five elements present in nature, PRAN (प्राण) from its non-discernible form of existence comes to pass through a sequential stage (AWASTHA अवस्था) of discernible existence that has predictable, definite and constant symptoms (LAKSHAN लक्षण) and properties (DHARM धर्म)”

As per LAW OF COMPLETENESS, further explanation of PRAN will run as follows:

“Any stage of PRAN (प्राण) either discernible or non-discernible at any time is complete in it and is always present as such”.

If the environmental conditions don’t permit its discernible existence it will remain dormant, a different stage with entirely different set of properties and symptoms. This different stage at some point is not likely to give even the suggestion of existence of PRAN (प्राण) as the symptoms and properties have undergone a drastic change. Does it mean that the VRITTIS (वृत्ति) of only five natural elements initially responsible for deciding the set conditions of environment to bring in motion the chain of stages of existence with different properties and symptoms, are in fact giving birth to innumerable VRITTIS (वृत्ति) of innumerable forms of existence? This impression would have held the ground if Patanjali had not given the explanation. As per him no new VRITTI comes into existence as per complementary LAW OF COMPLETENESS. It is only the permutation and combination of VRITTIS (वृत्ति) that manifests itself in a HAPPENING / NON-HAPPENING and mistaken as NEW. How?

CONCEPT OF CREATION OUT OF NOTHING (SHUNYA शून्य)

The presence of innumerable non-discernible forms of VRITTIS like PRAN (प्राण) might have given birth to the concept of creation out of nothing (SHUNYA शून्य). Is this SHUNYA another name of Vedic TATTVA understood as AKASH (आकाश) or a sort of vacuum? But vacuum may be so because there is no discernible presence of any VRITTI (वृत्ति). In other words vacuum might be a concept teeming with innumerable unknown non-discernible VRITTIS (वृत्ति) and hence responsible for entire seemingly NEW creation under some conditions of the VRITTIS of temperature and pressure, but in fact functioning as per above mentioned LAWS OF OPERATION of VRITTIS (वृत्ति). Is SHUNYA (शून्य) the modern day black hole or the Vedic HIRANYAGARBH (हिरण्य गर्भ ) in which all VRITTIS merge and five elements lose their known symptoms and properties under some law and from which under the same law these again emerge as gradually identifiable five natural elements as TATTVA (तत्त्व) / BHOOT (भूत)? Is that the reason Patanjali recommends these to be the basics to begin any study? In Patanjali Yog shastra the concept of VRITTI (वृत्ति) has been explained in the following two contexts:

• VRITTIS (वृत्ति) operating in nature and influencing the human beings.
• VRITTIS (वृत्ति)operating in human beings

The interaction of these VRITTIS (वृत्ति) only results into various physical and mental stages of human existence as per LAW OF APARINAMI and LAW OF COMPLETENESS meaning thereby that these were always so, are always so and will ever be so.

PREPARATION STAGE – CONCEPT OF VRITTI

PREPARATION STAGE – CONCEPT OF VRITTI
ONLY YOG – (केवल योग) THE ENDLESS
ULTIMATE FOR ALL ‘UltimatES’
YOGIC ENLIGHTENMENT

PREPARATION STAGE – UNDERSTANDING CONCEPT OF VRITTI

Key sentence – I have taken VRITTI and CHITT as unique concepts of Patanjali YOG that do not have any English equivalents and have to be understood and accepted as such.

The salient features about VRITTI (वृत्ति) that have been encoded in PATANJALI YOG SHASTRA emerge as under:
• The Vedic concept of VRITTI (वृत्ति) is so wide and all encompassing that these authors appear to have studied the entire universe as a conglomeration of innumerable VRITTIS (वृत्ति) only. More one finds about them more one learns about the creation, its process and existence. Any existence is the result of the functions of VRITTIS only. Nothing can exist without VRITTIS.
• VRITTIS are ever present and eternal. It means these were there, are there and will always be there. These cannot be destroyed. These can only be made use of by the human beings after understanding. Indestructibility and application are the concepts of a unique approach enshrined in Vedas of understanding the secrets of entire creation.
• For finding out these VRITTIS the Vedic scholars have not only given the idea of arranging these under various group heads (जाति) known as BHOOT (भूत) or TATVA (तत्त्व) for convenience but have given the benefits of a nomenclature of a biological species name or a brand name as we understand in modern terminology. The main identified group names (जाति) i.e. BHOOTS (भूत) or TATVAS (तत्त्व) by various Vedic scholars are EARTH (पृथ्वी), WATER (जल), AIR (वायु), FIRE (अग्नि) and SPACE (शून्य/आकाश). Each BHOOT / TATVA consists of millions of VRITTIS. If we apply ourselves slightly non-conventionally we will find that each Vedic hymn conveys some characteristic or VRITTI of any of the BHOOTS / TATTVA mentioned above. Thus these should be understood as elementary or primary class names (जाति).
• Identification of various VRITTIS representing a characteristic led to very interesting and scientific conclusions about the commonalities of all VRITTIS. In a way these are the basic directive principles that can lead to any research.

a) These were all found to have some definite structure,
b) These were all found to have discernible and non-discernible stages of existence,
c) These were all found to have definite functions and
d) These were all found to have a definite purpose related with creation
• Human beings are nothing but a bunch of innumerable VRITTIS that function as per set laws
• Creation is a result of VRITTIS (वृत्ति) and is a continuous process as per laws of operation and there is no end to it.
• All types of existence even so understood as abstract like thought, emotions, smell, taste etc have VRITTIS in their structure. The constituents range from the seemingly abstract to the concrete. For example on one hand these may be the attributes of MIND and on the other these denote the properties vested with the five elements (TATVA / BHOOT).
• VRITTI (वृत्ति) is the cause as well as effect of any existence, non-existence and any happening or non-happening.
• These are highly specialized, specific modules, innumerable for innumerable activities and thus have definite function and purpose.
• All human actions or happenings in nature are dependent on and driven by VRITTIS (वृत्ति)
• Ultimately such a concept of VRITTI is bound to be beyond definition due to its innumerable constituents. But the constituents behave in such a way that these can be better studied under various heads / groups / subgroups. Patanjali calls these groups also as JATI (जाति). The constituents alone can come within the purview of a definition because that is what we keep on knowing, accumulating, modifying, preserving and use as basic data to further extend the borders of our knowledge.

With above mentioned salient characteristics about VRITTIS we tend to confuse if we try to understand and compare VRITTI in modern language with any of the so far discovered prevalent concepts like chromosomes, genes, genomes, hormones, vitamins, viruses, bacteria, molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, ions, neurons, electrical / electronic impulses or various other nano concepts etcetera. The confusion is cleared the moment we consider these as SUKSHM (सूक्ष्म जाति) constituents of a VRITTI explained under a succeeding paragraph PREPARATION STAGE – UNDERSTANDING VRITTIS OPERATING IN NATURE AND INFLUENCING THE HUMAN BEINGS; and accept the basic directive principle of limitlessness NETI NETI (नेति नेति) as given in Vedas or NIRATISHAYA (निरतिशय) as given by Patanjali that innumerable more are yet to be found out, defined and redefined as per the last bulleted salient feature. That is why Patanjali has not even attempted to define VRITTI and CHITT as concepts but has left no stone upturned to explain them. To explain VRITTI various words used in English are tendency, inclination, instinct, drive etc. but these words are inadequate and convey a very limited aspect of VRITTI as will be borne out further in succeeding paragraphs. I have, therefore, taken VRITTI and CHITT as unique concepts of Patanjali YOG that do not have any English equivalents and have to be understood and accepted as such.