Patanjali Yoga Sutra — Anubhūtaviṣayāsampramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ||1.11||अनुभूतविषयासम्प्रमोषः स्मृतिः||१.११||
Memory is recording, remembering and retrieving what is perceived and stored (through five sense organs).
The storage faculty (Citta) records all the un-rejected impressions (Good or bad) of one’s life (including past lives) in one’s own recycle bin. It is retrieved and used when it is in need. Thus, the impressions are like fossils preserved in Kālagarbha. Scriptures say that citta stores the impressions of not only the present life, but it is a spool of impressions of past lives also. It is the sum total of what we have perceived and accepted. Memory leads to saṃskāras. We are not different from what we have chosen, what we have perceived, what we have stored in citta. We are not different from what we have chosen to think and do. These saṃskāras rush to the forefront the moment we try to concentrate or meditate thus ruining all our efforts, like the arrival of unwanted, unwelcome, uninvited guests. Hence Patañjali considers these also as one kind of thought wave.
In contrast to the above, the redundant or rejected perceptions, ideas vanish without making any impressions on us. “A yogi, being in Brahman consciousness, never longs for anything, never weeps for anything. Always being in a state of tranquility, sans all kinds of melancholy, obsessions, he treats all beings alike and ultimately attains to Me, as he is free from all kinds of vāsanas (impressions, saṃskāras)” says Bhagavān:
ब्रह्मभूतः प्रसन्नात्मा न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।
समः सर्वेषु भूतेषु मद्भक्तिं लभते पराम्॥गीता १८.५४॥
Brahmabhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati|
Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu madbhaktiṃ labhate parām||Gītā 18.54||
One, who is steadfast in his highest desire of ever being in Paramātma, never weeps for anything, never longs for anything. Always having an approach of equanimity with all forms of life, he attains to Me ultimately.
Water in its purest form is tasteless, odorless, and colourless. Good or bad, if something is present in water, the latter’s purity is lost. Thus, when the citta is devoid of all kinds of worldly impressions (good or bad), the yogi is never bound by his own actions and thoughts; and the smṛti would not disturb his sādhana.
