1.10 – Sleep Is the Absence of Content

abhāva-pratyaya-ālambanā vṛttir nidra

Translation

Sleep is a fluctuation supported by the sense of non-existence.

Meaning

Sleep is not nothing; it is a state of mind. In sleep, the mind is not absent-it is simply not directed toward objects. There is a vague sense of “not being,” of dissolution. That vagueness is itself a mental state, a vritti.

This is why sleep is listed among the fluctuations: even in sleep, the mind is working. Full yoga consciousness is awareness that persists even in sleep and dreams.

Commentary – Vacaspati Misra (Tattvavaisharadi)

Vacaspati notes that the yogi can maintain a thread of witnessing awareness even in sleep-a remarkable state in which the body rests but the seer remains awake. This is the advanced fruit of practice.

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