The latent impressions and vritti

The samskaras or latent impressions are imprinted in the subconscious mind. An action in the present sinks down into the depths of the mind becoming a samskara. A specific action creates a specific samskara. The samskara fruitifies in the present or future births. One can gain past life memories from samskaras. The samskaras lie dormant in the mind waiting for the right time to fruitify. Vritti literally means a whirl-pool. Vritti arise from the Chitta. The Chitta is the mind stuff. It is the mental substance. Vritti or thought-wave is a modification of the mind stuff. The function of a Vritti in the mind is to remove the veil of ignorance covering objects. When the veil is removed, wisdom dawns. According to Raja Yoga of Maharshi Patanjali, Pramana (right perception or right proof), Viparyaya (misperception), Vikalpa (conceptualization or imagination), Nidra (sleep) and Smriti (memory) are the five mental Vrittis or mental functions. If these five mental functions are suppressed, the suppression of desires and other functions will ensue.  Vrittis have been classified into five kinds: (1) Mano-Vritti, (2) Buddhi Vritti, (3) Sakshi Vritti, (4) Akhandakara Vritti and (5) Akhanda Ekarasa Vritti. Mano-Vritti belongs to the instinctive mind. Buddhi Vritti, Sakshi Vritti, Akhandakara Vritti and  Akhanda Ekarasa belong to the Sattvic mind. There is no Vritti in Brahman. When all the Vrittis die, Samskaras and the frame of the mind remain. God is a pure consciousness free from any stored latent impressions or samskaras independent of the cycle of cause and effect. As long as the samskaras remain in the mind the result would be the cycle of birth and death. Ones life whether miserable or pleasant will be governed by the samskaras. The future sufferings can be removed in this life by removing the samskaras. The samskaras or latent impressions are carried throughout the cycle of birth and death and are only removed by nirbijah samadhi(seedless samadhi).

error:
Scroll to Top