Clarification on the meaning of Chitta

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya!

 

I need a clarification on what exactly is meant by the Sanskrit word "Chiththa".

I have heard it being mentioned in Adi Sankara's Atma Shatkam in the line "Mano

Buddhi Ahamkara Chitta... " and in Patanajali's Yoga - "Chitta Vritti Nirodaha

iti yogaha". What is the exact difference between Manas and Chitta?

 

Can anyone please shed some light on what exactly chitta means?

 

Thanking You.

 

Regards,

Deepa.

[Guest guest]

Deepa - Greetings.

 

Chitta normally means mind - in Vedanata 'mind' is used in both

generic sense as well as specific sense and one should take the

meaning depending on the context. Chitta Vritti - are essentally the

thoughts in the mind or by the mind. Hence Patanjali defines yoga -

as the mental action involving controlling the throught pattern. In

Vedanta, it is recognized that one cannot control the mind and stop

it from thinking - a better way is to redirect the mind to higher -

that is considered as yoga - that leads to karma yoga, bhakti yoga

and j~naana yoga and it is yoga shaasra - as Krishna calls his

discourse to Arjuna.

 

But if one desects the mind further - one can make four further

subclassifications - that is what Shankara does - it is manas (mind),

buddhi (intellect), ahankaraa(ego) and Chitta(can be traslated as

memory -or conditioned consciousness in some cases), In

VivekachuuDamani - Shankara says:

 

nigadyate antakaraNam manodhiiH

ahankRitiH chittam iti svavRittibhiH|

manassu saMkalpavikalpanaadibhiH

buddhiH padaarthaadhyavasaayadharmataH|

atraabhimaanat aham iti ahankRitiH

swaartha anusandhaana guNena chittam||

 

antaHkaraNam or the inner subtler equipemnt (mind in a general sense)

consits of four types depending on their functionality. one is mind

or manas, which is consists of vagauring thoughts (we say people do

not make up their minds!), buddhi is the intellectual thoughts or

discriminative thoughts -decissive thoughts- nishchaatmikam.

Attachment to these - (cosisting of I thought and my thought etc) is

called ahankaara (or ego) and finally chitta - here it is defined as

swaartha guNena anusandhaanam - contemplation on ones own qualities -

but that includes contemplation on the stored thoughts or memory - or

also swaartha anusandhaana guNam - constant reflection of ones own

self - that I am this and I am that - which includes ego, manas and

intellect - on that constant reflection - which is essentially a

conscious entity identifying with these thought patterns - hence also

called 'conditioned consciousness' I the jiiva. Bhagavaan Ramana

uses in this sense in his Upadesha saara- dRisyavaaritam chittam

aatmanaH, chitta darshaNam tatva darshaNam. when one removes the

'naama and ruupa' of the objects thoughts (dRisyebhaH vaaritam

manaH), then what is left of the thoughts (when one removes the names

and forms in the thought partern and look at the essence of the

thoughts), what remains is the chittasya tatvam - the vision of the

conditioned consiouness with the conditioned removed is nothing but

the essence of the truth - that is the vision of ones true self -

tatva darshanam. This is infact a medition sloka. In summary- the

word is used in the sense of memory or in the sense of conditioned

consciousness.

 

Hari OM!

Sadananda

 

 

 

 

--- deepa_1729 <dhandeep wrote:

> Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya!

>

> I need a clarification on what exactly is meant by the Sanskrit

> word "Chiththa". I have heard it being mentioned in Adi Sankara's

> Atma Shatkam in the line "Mano Buddhi Ahamkara Chitta... " and in

> Patanajali's Yoga - "Chitta Vritti Nirodaha iti yogaha". What is

> the exact difference between Manas and Chitta?

>

> Can anyone please shed some light on what exactly chitta means?

>

> Thanking You.

>

> Regards,

> Deepa.

>

>

 

 

=====

What you have is His gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift

to Him - Swami Chinmayananda.

 

 

 

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