Sutra 8 Viparyayo mithya-jnanam a-tad-rupa-pratishtham

Viparyaya: False, perverse, corrupt. Viparyayah are the result of a corrupted cognition process leading to misconceptions, error, false views, perverse or corrupted beliefs, based on erroneous knowledge, facts, incorrect data, confused reasoning, or faulty cognitive ability; misapprehension.

mithya: false; untrue, incorrect, illusory; based on myth.

jnanam: understanding; knowledge;

mithyajnanam: illusory or false knowledge, false views.

atad: not that: misapprehension

rupa: form; shape; appearance.

atadrupa: not in its own form; perverted/corrupted. mistaken.

pratistham (prathistha): occupying; abiding; standing strong. To turn back or to manifest the opposite. Placing the mind, energy, and intention in a steady and firm oppositional state; firmly established, base, free from opposing or disturbing influences; unshakeable; to stand strong, unshakeable.

Commentary: False beliefs, wrong theories, or perverse cognition (viparyaya) occurs when the basis of the cognition (pratistham) has corrupted the process of establishing the cognition (mithya-jnanam), where contexts become confused (a-tad-rupa-pratistham) or conflated.

Here viparyayah, false identifications, and mistakes of perception as well as the confused processes of inference also may be faulty. In pramana the sense data may be limited, the logical process of inference may also be limited, and the witnesses may be limited or partial, but not necessarily erroneous. But in viparyaya, these processes are not only limited but also faulty. There are many causes for adherence to this citta-vrtti. Viparyaya leads the mindfield to misconceived perception about "reality", creating wrong conclusions, theories, views, and beliefs, thus coloring the mind (citta-vrtti) and hence limiting direct experience as-it-is. Viparyaya may be based on a lack of clear perception (atad jnanam) and/or an overall inaccurate context in which to ascribe true meaning to events, such as the common fragmented and dualistic context of seeing things in separate pieces or disparate, fragmented, and disjointed sequences. Here the modern idiom, "garbage in, garbage out" bears a similar message. No remedies are offered so far, rather Sri Patanjali is simply listing the five main categories of citta-vrtta (viparyaya being one). The remedies (such as vairagya) begin at Sutra I.12 (directly after this discussion on the citta-vrtta).

To translate the Sanskrit word, viparyaya, as false views has given some philosophers license to compare it with pramana, while labeling pramana as "correct" or "valid" view. Because we live in a modern culture, which is afflicted by subject/object dualistic views, many people confuse reality or the world with their "view" of reality, thus objectifying and limiting their experience, while preventing new experience. All such labeling or reification is incorrect and relative, even if the view approaches the reality of one's experience. Whether it is an accurate description in words through either "faulty" or "good" logic or authoritative testimony by others or not, in yoga the view, the path, and the fruit are synchronistically simultaneous -- the experiential reality of swarupa-sunyam as samadhi which informs through its own direct experience.

Many examples of viparyaya abound. The most obvious is starting out with faulty data. The second is to make errors of calculation regarding the processing of the data, like in adding the numbers, 2 plus 3, to equal 8. Starting from conditioned false assumptions is also a very common source of viparyaya.

From a yogic viewpoints the most obvious is cynicism, nihilism, and dualistic views (something Sri Patanjali comments about at length in regards to the delusional egoic mind (asmita) and specifically to false identification (samyoga) found in chapter 2 (Sadhana Pada). Another easy example is false conclusions based on faulty sense perception, like mistaking shadows in the night as ghosts where they are merely reflections of tree branches moving in the wind under the influence of moonlight. Similarly one sees a red hat, and associates it with a painful past experience with some one else who also wore a red hat, hence imputing that the wearer of the red hat is a threat due to post traumatic stress. Similarly, one is told that all people who wear red hats belong to an evil group. Hence when some one sees another person with a red hat, there is an assumption made that they are an evil threat.

As a process in a perceptual sense, the observer's faulty vision is blurred and sees an object faintly at twilight which looks like a tiger to a mind already biased toward the klesha of fear. That is an clear example of mithya-jnanam atad rupa-pratistha. Combined with one's faulty vision, one believes/concludes that a tiger is there, but later one finds out it was only a large cat. Is it the "mind's bias that has created the wrong conclusion or the fault of the eyes? We can call this an error of perception due to lack of light, but really it is an error due to a combination of events both mental reasoning as well as physical misperception. The causes may matter in terms of making a correction, but here again we are simply identifying the common citta-vrtti of viparyayo. Later Sri Patanjali suggest practices to free the process of citta-vrtti wherein the yogin rests (pratistha) in their true form (swarupa).

In another simple example, one may hear a sound of an engine and conclude/believe that it is a lion and run away. That is a result of a faulty "interpretation" of the sound --a mistake in the computational function (anumana). Both are viparyaya (false beliefs or wrong views). But in a spiritual sense any conclusion or belief based on separation or duality that one is separate from All Our Relations is a false view.That is ignorance based on a false assumption/belief. Ignorance is based on falsehood -- false beliefs/views and assumptions, the foremost one is asmita (the egoic mindset which is the basis of dualistic thought.

The problem thus is compounded where the average person confuses false views as real, true, correct, right, or true views/beliefs. The firm conviction/conclusion that it is true when it is actually illusory, makes it much more difficult to become released. Hence pramana are often more seductive than viparyaya in relationship to yogic liberation. Even though in a physical sense a belief appears to be confirmed through the ordinary channels of pratyaksha (dualistic or ordinary perception), anumana (inference), and agama (external authority) unless it is informed by direct non-dual spiritual insight (experience) wrought through practice, it tends to uphold a tenacity toward the fragmented limited view, rather than the view that includes the sacred whole. In other words the average bloke, has become conditioned to see "objects", the physical body, and form as independently self existing as separate objects -- as solid things only, but physicists, babies, and yogins tell us that all things are fluid, energetic, and inseparable.

For example, I might see a light in the sky distorted in the smog and because I have astigmatism it may appear as something else. I mistake its form as something it is not (atad rupa-pratistham). Can the sense organs be fooled? Certainly. Viparyaya is not dependent solely upon either faulty inference or faulty perception, but either or both can be faulty. I can conclude it is a flying saucer. Even others may verify that it is a UFO or maybe not. Is my sense perception incorrect, my process of inference, or my system of validation incorrect in making such a conclusion? What if my parents and teachers (agama) taught me that the world was flat. My limited sense perception (pratyaksha) might seem to corroborate it, but then in the 15th century we learned that this was an illusion or wrong knowledge even though it was based on sense perception, inference, and agama. is that pramana or viparyaya or does it matter? History is full of examples of established theories being demolished by new correct theories established by new data and confirmation. Rather it doesn't matter very much to Patanjali if it is viparyaya (erroneous views) or pramana (valid cognition), nidra, smrti, or vikalpa. They are all dualistic vrttis that have to be eventually released and dissolved (nirodha).

The number one primary false cognition (viparyaya) , the primary error of the mind, is the confused context of the ego ideation. The ideation that self is separate from Self -- the atman is separate from Brahman, that there exists an independent ego separate from the all, all of which creates spiritual self alienation, fragmentation, isolation, and death. The samsaric mindset based on ignorance of Self, of Primordial All encompassing Consciousness, of Now Awareness -- that is the primary erroneous assumption (viparyayo) . which creates the primary confusion (a-tad-rupa-pratishtham). Given the profundity of yoga, viparyaya may widely occur, especially where pramana is assumed to occur.

Similarly, Western thought during the first renaissance was most often based on Cartesian thought which is summarized by Descartes's statement; "I think, therefore I am". This led to to assumption that an was an independent ego, separate fro the rest of creation. It was indeed somewhat helpful for human society to break away from the dominance of the church, but it not only created the tyranny of the ego, but also an artificial split from nature, creation, the evolutionary creative power, and primordial consciousness all of which are the well springs of life which mankind must embrace or perish. Neither worshipping an alien God who resides in heaven, or worshipping the ego, will extract man fro the insanity of his own destruction -- his trait for self intoxication, pollution, ecocide, and death. When he recognizes that his desire for cessation or death is merely a scurrilous compensation for his desire to free himself from the bondage of ego (to realize ego death), then he will realize liberation while alive and embody it..

Only when the yogin abides in the true Self as-it-is (swarupa) will he/she have an undistorted view -- will vidya shine forth destroying avidya. As long as we see things in the dualistic context of I-it (as separate) instead of the non-dual transpersonal world of All Our Relations then in a profound sense, we suffer from errors of perception. Obviously many people are afflicted with the vrtti of wrong and misleading "views" either through a misapprehension of objects of the senses even before the objects become processed (anumana), but also through basic errors of the objects of the mind (where we place our thoughts). Here this basic state of viparyayah can be called simply confusion or delusion, but more specifically here Patanjali is saying that confusion including false identification (viparyayo) false knowledge (mithya-jnanam) which is based upon (pratistham) a misapprehension of an object either by the senses or the mind (a-tad-rupa). Here Patanjali is not even referring to confusion caused by faulty inference or reasoning abilities (anumana), nor even faulty methods of validation (agama), but merely the confusion arising out of perception (a-tad-rupa). Wrong views are similar to right views, but they are based on an erroneous methodology. Why is the methodology faulty, because it is based on a mistaken perception in the first place (here faulty perception), let alone errors in logic, misreadings, superimpositions of fragmented contexts, incorrect application of context or standards -- or any combination of these and more. The anumana and agama will fail, because the pratyaksha (correct perception) is lacking, but even if we were to assume "accurate perception", infallible logic is actually as rare as infallible expert testimony or external indicators.

These erroneous assumptions thus color the citta and obstruct the sadhana and thus also have to be given up. Here viparyaya are often more easily given up, than pramana (so called "right" views), because they are not widely backed up by external authority (except in cases of mass insanity or conventional held illusions/prejudice), logical proofs, or ordinary objective methods of perception (such as found holding together pramana). Here at least viparyayo caused by errors in perception can be more easily pointed out, identified, and recognized, thus capable of being eliminated more easily. They are more easily given up, i.e., because they may have less external reinforcements and support (pratistham) so that true wisdom (prajna) can come forth more easily.

This is made clear in Sutra 48-49: Rtambhara tatra prajna shrutanumana-prajnabhyam anya-vishaya vishesharthatvat: "Then Supreme Truth Bearing (rtam-bhara) Wisdom (prajna) self-arises, dawns and prevails, which must be distinguished (anya) from the mere knowledge (prajnabhyam) based on anumana (inference, deduction, logic) and shruti (scriptures, belief, faith, external or objective authoritative sources of knowledge) no matter how "seemingly" authoritative, which is always less reliable and more coarse than this very special insight (visaya) of direct truth bearing wisdom (rtam-bhara), which is based on inner direct spiritual experience and knowledge."

On a daily basis, there are many other practical examples.

We sit in dharana staring at a candle. The eyes tell us that it turns into two candles. We come out of concentration and shift our position slightly and see that it is really one candle, but the eyes (instruments of perception) had gotten tired and slightly crossed, so that the object was misapprehended as two.

A policeman goes into a dark bar and sees what appears to be a gun handle in a man's side pocket. This man sees the policeman and almost immediately appears to grab for the gun. The policeman hurriedly grabs his gun and fires it at the man. When the man is searched, it is found at a closer look that he was grabbing for a metal flask of liquor.

We live in Chicago, Illinois. A loud noise rings out, like a gunshot. Without thinking we duck for cover, but later find out it is only an automobile backfiring. This is an example of a conditioned viparyayo or a conditioned reflex without using anumana or agama but simply confusing a form with what it is not (atad rupa).

We hear an airplane, but are reminded by its noise an airplane crash that we witnessed 20 years ago while serving in the military as a soldier. On an emotional level we start to sweat and want to run for safety, but we are walking down the street with other people, so we try to cope. This is an example how two vrttis can work together; i.e., viparyayo and smrti (memory) as a citta-vrtti.

A person is brought up in a cave where the source of light is a torch. Bigger torches bear greater light. One concludes logically (with anumana) and this is confirmed by the elders (agama), that light comes from a torch. At an advanced age, the inhabitants of the cave finally find an exit and see the stars, moon, and sun. They then believe that the sky contains very large torches (in their sense they are correct), but in reality something far deeper is occurring. That is just an example where an assumed pramana is really a viparyaya. There is almost no end to the permutations of the vrtti. When the vrtti are all given up in yoga, then we are able to see clearly. This is known to the yogis through authentic yogic practices such as astanga yoga.

Once we are clearly shown our error (viparyayah), we are usually much more receptive and open minded toward exploring something new -- letting go of the mistaken view or in this case exploring better ways of knowing such as "inner" knowledge and direct experience. That is the open mind -- open awareness that is necessary to have success in yoga.

However those who are "settled" in viparyaya but adhere to it as pramana (a proven theory) and defend such what appears as perceptual evidence, inference, and authority) however, have far more resistance, stubbornly clinging onto their own self made limitations unless "the view" dictates them to look within, give up the glue (observation, inference, and validation) of the vrtti, and experience "reality" for one self directly, without any such filters. Briefly, what is called "pramana" is most often viparyaya, and even pramana is a citta-vrtti. This sutra ends in the word, pratistha, which connotes placing the mind, energy, and intention in a steady and firm oppositional state; firmly established, unshakeable, standing strong. In brief confused people cling onto their false beliefs stubbornly and resist awakening. This perpetuates obscurations and hindrances (kleshas) and a great tragedy -- it leads to duhkha (suffering).

Viparyaya (wrong view) is like 1 plus 2 equals 4. Pramana is like 1 plus two equals three. Both are limited formulations. With viparyaya at least it can be easily identified and proven wrong, so one can discard the erroneous conclusion and start again. However, with pramana, it just sits there, stasis and fixation can more easier set in, egoic defensive/protective armoring often becomes active.

This is what Patanjali is saying in the rest of the Yoga Sutras, i.e., self realization comes forth non-dually -- both from within and outside -- truly nondual, where direct experiences are no longer clouded by the mental processes --no longer conditioned by external clinging. That open NOW awareness (avidya) completely remediates the citta-vrtti. Also the remediation of the citta-vrtti eliminates ignorance (the kleshas). These processes are interconnected. The interfering waves (of the citta-vrtta) are annihilated (nirodha). This is why Patanjali includes pramana as the first vrtti, as it is the most stubborn (more difficult to let go of than viparyayo). Pramana is vrtti that most lends itself to the kleshas of self delusion (avidya), attraction (raga), pride (asmita), arrogance, false identification, hatred, envy, fear, and the rest. Here we will include both objects of sense perception as well as objects that the mind focuses upon in our definition of Viparyayah, noting that the classic commentators take the mind's wandering upon objects of thought as vikalpa (as in the next vrtti).