Vasana
Vāsanā (IAST)Translation: "latent tendency"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: वासना
Transliteration: Vāsanā
Translation: "latent tendency; impression; conditioning; self-limitation; predisposition; desires"
Definition: "A latent potency or residual impression which clings to the individual. It is also called Saṃskāra."
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
"Vāsanā, Buddhist philosophical term meaning ‘tendency’. It is an explanatory category, designed to show how it is possible to talk of tendencies or capacities in persons on the basis of a metaphysic that denies that there are any enduring existents in the continua of events conventionally called “persons.” According to this metaphysic, when we speak of the tendency of persons understood in this way to do this or that – to be jealous, lustful, angry – we are speaking of the presence of karmic seeds in continua of events, seeds that may mature at different times and so produce tendencies to engage in this or that action."
The Science of Yoga (I.K. Taimni)
"Desire in its most comprehensive sense is thus a more fundamental factor in our life than our thoughts and actions because it is the hidden power which drives the mind and body in all kinds of ways for the satisfaction of its own purposes. The mind is thus mostly an instrument of desires and its incessant activity results from the continuous pressure of these desires upon it. Of course, ‘desire’ is not an apt word for the subtle power which drives the mind at its higher levels and which binds consciousness to the glorious realities of the spiritual planes. The word used in Sanskrit for this power which works at all levels of the mind is Vāsanā. Just as Citta is the universal medium for the expression of the mind principle, so Vāsanā is the universal power which drives the mind and produces the continuous series of its transformations which imprison consciousness. In fact, the word Vāsanā used in the present context is of a still more comprehensive significance, for it not only indicates the principle of desire in its widest sense but also the tendencies and Karma which this principle generates on the different planes. For desire and the Karma or tendencies which it produces form a vicious circle in which causes and effects are intertwined and it is difficult to separate them. So the use of the word Vāsanā for both is quite justifiable.
Since different types of Vāsanā require different kinds of conditions and environment for their manifestation, it is quite obvious that they cannot find expression in any haphazard manner but must follow a certain sequence determined by the different types of environments and conditions through which the individual passes in the successive incarnations. And this is what Part 4, Sūtra 8 points out. If a person has a strong desire for being a champion athlete, when he has inherited a weak and diseased body, his desire cannot naturally be fulfilled in that life. If an individual A has strong Karmic ties with another individual B who is not in incarnation at the time and those ties require physical expression, they will naturally remain in abeyance for the time being and can be worked out only when both are present in physical incarnation at the same time. It will be seen, therefore, that only a limited number of Vāsanā, whether in the form of desire or Karma, can find expression in a particular incarnation, firstly, because the span of human life is more or less limited, and secondly, because the conditions for the expression of different kinds of Vāsanā are frequently incompatible. That portion of the accumulated stock of Vāsanā (Sañcita Karma) which can find expression and is ready to be precipitated in one particular incarnation is known as Prārabdha Karma, of the individual. The life of an ordinary individual is confined within the framework thus made for him and his freedom to alter its main trends is extremely limited. But a man of exceptionally strong will, and especially a Yogi whose knowledge and powers are extraordinary, can make considerable changes in the plan of life thus marked out for him. In fact, the more the Yogi advances on the path of Yoga which he is treading, the greater is his hand in determining the pattern of his lives, and when he is on the threshold of Kaivalya, he is practically the master of his destiny."
"Just as Citta is universal and embraces all vehicles through which the consciousness of the Puruṣa functions in the manifested worlds, in the same way, Vāsanā is universal in its import and is associated with all the vehicles of consciousness and grades of Citta. The word Vāsanā is generally translated by the word desire, but this is restricting its scope in the same manner as when we confine the meaning of the word Citta to that of the medium of the intellect. The clinging to the enjoyments of the lower worlds binds the soul to these worlds and produces all kinds of attachments and consequent suffering. Such clinging is generally known as desire or Kama. But this clinging is not confined to the lower worlds. In its subtler forms, it exists even in the higher worlds. In fact, wherever there is Asmitā or identification with a vehicle of consciousness, there is clinging to the vehicle, however subtle this clinging may be and however spiritual may be the object of this clinging. If there were no clinging or attachment but perfect Vairāgya, there would be no bondage but Liberation or Kaivalya. It is this clinging to the higher modes of existence which constitutes many of the ‘fetters’ which have to be broken on the path of Liberation.
It is only when Vāsanā is understood in this wider sense and not only in the sense of desires pertaining to the lower worlds that we can grasp the significance of Part 4, Sūtra 24. Vāsanā permeates life at all its levels including the highest. It has for its objectives things of the most varied nature, from the crudest physical indulgences to the most refined knowledge and bliss of the spiritual planes. But when we pursue these multifarious objectives—and the nature of the objects we seek continually changes as we evolve—what are we really seeking? Are we pursuing these objectives for their own sake? No! We are merely seeking the Puruṣa who is our real Self hidden beneath all these attractive objects of pursuit. It is for his sake that we are going through this long and tedious process of evolution. It is really not for the sake of these objects which promise to give us happiness that we pursue them but for the sake of someone else (Parārthaṃ) and that is the Puruṣa."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Audi, Robert (1999). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
- Taimni, I. K. (1975). The Science of Yoga: The Yoga-Sūtras of Patañjali in Sanskrit with Transliteration in Roman, Translation in English and Commentary: Theosophical Publishing House. p. 347-348, 374
