Delusion - YS I - 9

This picture illustrates the next Yoga Sutra I-9 SABDAJNANANUPATI VASTU SUNYO VIKALPAH translated as An image that arises on hearing mere words without any reality [as its basis] is verbal delusion. The picture has the microphone from which we can hear sounds from.

We hear things all the time. If you listen to someone speak from a radio, on the telephone or in person we get different impressions all the time. And those impressions might not be true. The commentary from Swami Satchitananda on this sutra is that "in vikalpa (verbal delusion) there is nothing there , yet you still create some opinion about it." He gives an example of a guy taking his car to a garage and on the way all four of his tires are punctured. One might deduce that maybe the driver got into an accident, not really hearing the words and not taking time to think about what was actually said. This reminds me of how gossiping starts from hearsay.

Swami Muktananda, author of the book "Mystery of the Mind" refers to vikalpa vritti as "imagination or fantasy." " Imagination is the supporter of wrong knowledge." This brings to mind the times I hear someone over the radio or over the phone and I imagine how the person looks. Then when I actually see an image of the person or meet the person, they look completely different from what I imagined. Have you had that experience? Now you know that this is one of the mental modifications that we experience in the mind. So become mindful of your thoughts.

Stay tuned for the other vrittis (modifications of the mind)