Translation

fluctuation

Other Translations

  • verbal delusion
  • streams of consciousness
  • movements of thought
  • to whirl, turn, revolve
  • to go on
  • waves, ripples
  • turnings

Background

In the Yoga Sūtras, vritti is any movement of chitta, which is not thought in the narrow sense but every activity the mind performs, including the ones that happen while we sleep. Patañjali is not describing something that goes wrong with the mind. Turning is what a mind does, and the practice is learning to see it happening.

Yoga Sūtras