Patanjali Yoga Sutra —प्रवृत्तिभेदे प्रयोजकं चित्तमेकमनेकेषाम्॥4.5॥

pravṛttibhede prayojakaṃ cittamekamanekeṣām॥

Different artificial minds emanate from only one controlling the original mind.

It is said, yogi creates many bodies and minds in order that the karmaphalas are exhausted at the earliest so that liberation is ensured quickly.

Patañjali cautiously investigates the anatomy and physiology of the mind in these two sūtras (4.4 and 4.5) (Please read the commentary given for sūtras 1.2 and 4.4). It is avidyā that obscures the truth. Like one sun controlling different revolving planets in our solar system, different aspects emanate from one single untainted consciousness and superficially appear to be independent of themselves and carrying out different roles. But these branched out twigs are always withdrawable and merged into the mother consciousness.

Anatomy of mind is explained: antaḥkaraṇa (Internal faculty) gets divided into various twigs appearing to be executing different roles, though not like watertight compartments. But these are different manifestations of one mind alone:

1. Manas: Perceiving through five senses, this is ‘Receiving faculty’, receiving impressions from the external world, without any kind of discrimination as to their nature and value.

2. Buddhi: ‘Discriminating faculty’ — which qualifies the impressions received, like ‘This is good, this is bad’, etc and Buddhi might choose to reject unwanted impressions.

3. Ahaṅkāra: This faculty owns the unrejected impressions and becomes part of these impressions and says ‘I’.

4. Citta: This is ‘Storage faculty’, accumulating unrejected impressions. These impressions are retrievable from citta when the need arises.

Different branches seem to execute diverse and dissimilar roles, but by Yogasādhana, sādhaka can withdraw the outward tendency and eradicate his ajñāna and identify the ‘oneness’ of all these faculties thus merging them into ‘antaḥkaraṇa’ — one and only original internal faculty.

But so long as the sādhaka fails to recognize the seemingly different branched out twigs of his antaḥkaraṇa, he is always influenced by innumerable impressions being received through senses and gets bewildered and disoriented. How to overcome this kind of disorientation (bhrānti)?

Bhagavān’s message to the sādhakas:

यज्ज्ञात्वा न पुनर्मोहमेवं यास्यसि पाण्डव।

येन भूतान्यशेषेण द्रक्ष्यस्यात्मन्यथो मयि ॥४.३५॥

yajjñātvā na punarmohamevaṁ yāsyasi pāṇḍava.

yena bhūtānyaśeṣeṇa drakṣyasyātmanyatho mayi ॥Gītā 4.35॥

That wisdom, by importing which, you gain divine knowledge and avoid delusion, assists you to see one wholeness of seemingly different beings and then realize Me.

Knowledge (jñāna) is the only means for liberation and Bhagavān emphatically declares, ‘without śraddhā and bhakti, none can understand Me (Gītā 7.26–30) and get such a liberation’.

Bhagavān Buddha was once asked — ‘Through your Tapas (Austerities) what have you gained?’ He says, ‘No, I have not gained; instead, I have lost many things: desires, fear of death, ignorance, anger, hatred, cruelty and the like. Man’s quest starts with nothing and ends with nothing.’