28 Pātānjali says: ‘From the impression samskāra of this moment of cessation there is a calm flow
in the mind’
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When there is a repeated practice of certain actions and by creation of like-impressions, they create propensities and inclinations in a certain direction. In other words the accumulations of related
similar impressions create a flow of volitional and intentional activity in a certain direction and there is propensity towards a particular type of experience. The
samskāra-s thus become organised into various configurations which are known as
vāsanā -s or ‘traits’. . Thus
samskāra not only is of psychological significance but also play a role in liberation from the limited phenomenal ego and the cycle of birth and death.
c. Vāsanā
Vāsanā is a derivative of the root vas, ‘to dwell, abide, remain’ and occurs only twice in the Yogasūtra IV.8 and 24. As mentioned above, vāsanā -s are related impressions which organise into
inclinations and tendencies observed as personality traits. The impressions that combine into these patterns
vāsanā are the substance of the karmic residues which accumulate in the subconscious pool
karmasaya. The vāsanā -s incline the thoughts, feelings, attitudes and mental tendencies and give momentum towards certain choices and these in turn ‘expose one to situations that are then
credited with or blamed for one’s fortune or misfortune’
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. In other words past actions stored in the residue of karma continue to have an effect on the present actions even if not remembered.
Whicher states that ‘within the vāsanā inhere the qualities of past action and of the fruits that are
to ripen in due time, that is, in the present or future life’
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Thus karma in this way is the mechanism by which the ego identity and its phenomenal existence is
maintained. For the ordinary person this unending cycle of afflicted action carried out in ignorance and craving, creating latent residue and together with the fruits of these actions, gets caught in the
.
66
Ibid.,, YS III.10, p101
67
Ibid.,, p102
68
Ibid., p102
29 samsāra of repeated birth and death. For the yogin on the other hand, there is a practical Science of
Mind, through study and practice of which, the samskāra are diminished resulting in reduction of
the modifications. The yogin gets established in a state of inner calm, no longer enslaved by
samsāra. Vyāsa in the Yogabhāșya emphasises the relationship between samskāra, vāsanā and memory:
‘Just as the experiences, so also the samskāra-s. And these samskāras correspond to the vāsanā-s.
Just as the vāsanā-s so also the memories, as memories are from samskāra-s which are separated
from them by birth, place and time, And from memories again there are samskāra-s
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In summary, the concepts of karma, samskāra and vāsanā give the underlying mechanisms of the
modifications of the mind in Pātānjali ’s Science of the Mind. We will now consider the experience of
suffering in the individual when all these conscious and subconscious factors are in operation in the mind.
.
d. Roots of human suffering and methods of relieving suffering
