These disturbances are disease, idleness, doubt, carelessness, sloth, lack of detachment, misapprehension, failure to attain a base for concentration, and instability. They are distractions for the mind.

Bryant Commentary:

Patañjali lists the disturbances he indicated in the previous sūtra are removed by devotion to Īśvara. We use “disturbances” here for antarāya (literally, that which intervenes) rather than “obstacles,” since the latter term is often used for the kleśas, which are far more permanent and deep-rooted than the antarāyas listed in this sūtra. Vyāsa notes that these nine disturbances occur along with the vṛttis, the changing states of the mind, and if these disturbances were removed, there would be no vṛttis, and thus the goal of yoga, the cessation of all vṛttis, would be accomplished. He proceeds to define these interruptions. In accordance with the traditional theoretical understanding underpinning āyurvedic medicine, he considers disease, vyādhi, the first item on the list, to be an imbalance of the bodily fluids, or an imbalance of the doṣas, the three humors of Āyurveda (kapha, vāta, and pitta). In other words, disease occurs when one of these is in excess of its requirements. Idleness, styāna, is the disinclination of the mind toward work; a sort of mental paralysis, says Śaṅkara. Following the Nyāya school, doubt, saṁśaya, is taken as the consideration of two sides of an issue and thinking, “It might be this way, if not, it might be that way” (or, as Bhoja Rāja quips, “Is the practice of yoga doable or not?!”).

Carelessness, pramāda, is lacking the foundations to practice samādhi, presumably a reference to neglecting the eight limbs of yoga, which will be discussed in Chapters II and III (a lack of persistence, says Śaṅkara). Sloth, ālasya, is lack of effort in mind and body due to heaviness (which is caused by kapha, excess phlegm, says Vācaspati Miśra). Lack of detachment, avirati, is mental greed due to the mind contemplating the sense objects (due to past addictions, says Śaṅkara), a theme discussed at length in texts such as the Gītā (II.44). Misapprehension, bhrānti–darśana, is mistaken knowledge, like mistaking mother-of-pearl for silver, says Bhoja Rāja. (Śaṅkara considers this to be misconceptions about the yoga path itself). Failure to attain a base for concentration, alabdha–bhūmikatva, is failure to attain a state of samādhi. Finally, instability, an–avasthitatva, is the inability to maintain any such state that one might attain; only when samādhi is maintained will the mind be stable. Vijñānabhikṣu quotes a verse in this latter regard: “Even an elevated yogī can fall down due to worldly attachments; what to speak, then of a neophyte yogī?”207 One is reminded of the Gītā’s comment that “the senses are so strong, that they forcefully carry away the mind even of a discriminating person who is striving to control them” (II.60).

These disturbances, concludes Vyāsa, are the impurities of yoga, its enemies and obstacles produced by rajas and tamas. They are called disturbances, antarāya, says Śaṅkara, because they move, aya, and make a gap, antara, in one’s practice.

Sickness, Incompetence, Doubt, Delusion, Sloth, Non-Abstention, Erroneous Conception, Non-Attainment Of Any Yogic Stage, And Instability To Stay In A Yogi State, These Distractions Of The Mind Are The Impediments.

Sickness, apathy, doubt, carelessness, laziness, hedonism, delusion, lack of progress, and inconstancy are all distractions which, by stirring up consciousness, act as barriers to stillness.

These obstacles to self-knowledge disrupt and scatter the mind— they are disease, dullness, doubt, negligence, laziness, dissipation resulting from excess craving, delusion, lack of achieving the concentration necessary to achieve higher consciousness, and instability.

Disease, languor, doubt, carelessness, laziness, worldly-mindedness, delusion, non-achievement of a stage, instability, these (nine) cause the distraction of the mind and they are the obstacles..

Taimini Commentary:

It was pointed out in the last Sutra that the turning outward of consciousness is caused by Viksepa. In this Sutra Patanjali gives a number of conditions which cause the mind to be distracted and which consequently make the successful practice of Yoga impossible. This distracted condition of the mind in which it is constantly flung about in all directions, away from the centre, is called Viksepa. Since this condition of the mind is the opposite of that needed for the practice of Yoga we have to understand clearly the nature of Viksepa and the means to avoid it. To enable us to do this let us first cast a glance at the mind of the average man of the world. There are two general characteristics which we are likely to find in the large majority of people. The first is the lack of purpose. They drift through life being carried along on its currents in a helpless manner. There is no directive force within them which can modify their circumstances and give a certain direction to their life. Even when they decide to pursue any particular objective they are easily thrown off the track by any obstacles that may come in their path. In short, they have not developed concentration of purpose which enables a man to pursue an aim relentlessly until he has achieved it. Of course, there are some exceptional people who have developed a strong will and have the capacity to pursue a fixed aim till success is gained. Such people generally rise to the top in their respective spheres of work and become captains of industry, great inventors, scientists and political leaders.

Now, though the Yogi has no ambitions and the pursuit of any worldly aims does not form part of his life, still, he does need concentration of purpose like any ambitious man working in the outer world. The pursuit of Yogic ideals requires in fact more concentration of purpose than that of any worldly aim can, because in the first place, the difficulties are greater and in the second place, the sphere of work is inside and the objective is to a great extent unknown and intangible. The Yogi has generally to work against great odds, the results of his efforts take a long time to appear and even when they do appear do not bring with them the kind of satisfactions for which the lower nature of man generally craves. So, only an extraordinary concentration of purpose can enable him to keep to his course in the face of difficulties and obstacles. If this is not present he is likely to suffer from frustration and the disintegration of his mental forces to which such frustration generally leads. Under these circumstances distractions of all kinds such as those mentioned in the present Sutra are likely to arise and cause the mind to be thrown constantly off the track.

The second general characteristic of the ordinary mind is that it is constantly and completely turned outwards. It is used to taking interest only in the objects of the outer world and this habit has become so strong that any effort to reverse the direction of consciousness and to make the mind withdraw from the periphery to the centre is accompanied by a mental struggle. Even in the case of people who are generally called introverts the tendency is merely to keep oneself occupied with one’s mental images in disregard of what is happening in the outer world. This is rather an abnormal condition of the mind and is quite different from that condition in which the mind is directed to its centre and is thus attuned to the higher principles.

This centrifugal tendency of the mind does not matter in the case of the ordinary man because his interest and field of work is in the external world and the question of drawing the mind within does not arise. But the Yogi has to draw the mind within and the centrifugal tendency must therefore be replaced by a centripetal tendency so strong that it requires definite force of will to keep the mind directed outwards. These two tendencies which make the mind inward-turned or outward-turned correspond to Pratyak and Paranga Cetana and may be illustrated by the same diagrams which were used in representing the two forms of consciousness in dealing with the last Sutra.

This condition of the mind in which it is turned outwards and is subject to distractions is also called Viksepa. It is the normal condition in the case of the ordinary man and is taken as a matter of course by him because he grows up with it and it does not interfere with the kind of work he is required to do. The word Viksepa is used generally only in this ordinary sense and it is very probable that it has been used by Patanjali in this sense in the present context. But there is a mystery underlying this natural tendency of the mind to remain outward-turned which throws some light on the nature of Viksepa. It is worthwhile referring to it briefly here.

If we are to understand this mystery let us first consider the formation of a virtual image by a mirror. We all know that if an object is placed in front of a plain mirror an exact image of it is seen in the mirror and the image appears to be on the other side of the mirror at the same distance as the object is in front of it. The formation of such an image can be illustrated by the following diagram.

A is the object and A’ is its image formed by the mirror MN. It will be seen that all the rays coming from the object and striking the mirror are reflected in such a manner that if the reflected rays are produced backwards they would meet at the point A’ where the image of the object is seen. It is because the reflected rays all seem to come from the point A’ that the virtual image of the object is seen at that point. It is easy to see that this virtual image is a pure illusion produced by the peculiar reflection of light rays. But the important point to note in this phenomenon is that an object can be seen at a place where there exists nothing at all corresponding to it.

In a similar manner the familiar world of forms, colours, sounds etc. which we see outside us and in which we live our life is formed by a mysterious process of mental projection. The vibrations which are conveyed through the sense-organs to our brain produce through the instrumentality of the mind an image in our consciousness, but the mind projects this image outwards and it is this projection which produces the impression of a real world outside us. As a matter of fact, this impression of the familiar solid and tangible world outside us is a pure illusion. The world image we see is a virtual image in the sense that the objects we see outside us are not there at all. Their appearance there is based on the external world of atoms and molecules and their vibrations which stimulate the sense-organs as well as on the inner world of Reality which is the ultimate basis of the mental image. The mind brings about the interaction of spirit and matter and in addition projects the result of this interaction outside as a virtual image as shown in the following diagram:

It is this projection outwards by the lower mind of what is really within which constitutes the fundamental nature of Viksepa and which lies at the basis of this outwardturned condition of the mind.

The fact that the world image which we see outside us is an illusion does not necessarily mean the denial of the physical world. The physical world is the stimulator of the world image but the image is the mind’s own creation (in the light of Reality). This is not in contravention of modern scientific ideas. Take, for example, the question of colour. All that Science knows is that light vibrations of a certain frequency give the impression of a certain colour. It knows only the objective side of the phenomenon but as to why a certain frequency of vibration gives the impression of a particular colour it cannot say. The physical world of Science is merely a world of whirling atoms and molecules and the play of various kinds of energies. The mental world which springs forth in our consciousness through the instrumentality of the physical world is something quite apart from, though dependent upon, the physical world. There is a gulf between the two which Science has not been able to bridge and will not be able to bridge until it takes into account the world of Reality which expresses itself through the phenomena of consciousness.

Patanjali has enumerated nine conditions of the mind or body which cause Viksepa and thus serve as obstacles in the path of the Yogi. Let us briefly consider these before we proceed further.

(1) DISEASE: This is obviously a hindrance in the path of the Yogi because it draws the mind again and again to the physical body and makes it difficult to keep it directed inwards. Perfect health is a necessity for treading the path of Yoga and that is, no doubt, one of the reasons why the author has included Asana and Pranayama, two practices of Hatha-Yoga, in his system.

(2) LANGUOR: Some people have an apparently healthy physical body but lack nerve power so that they always feel below par and disinclined to take up any work requiring prolonged exertion. This chronic fatigue is in many cases psychological in origin and due to the absence of any definite and dynamic purpose in life. In other cases it is due to some defect in the Pranamaya Kosa which results in an inadequate supply of vital force to the physical body. Whatever its cause it acts as an obstacle because it undermines all efforts to practice Sadhana.

(3) DOUBT: An unshakeable faith in the efficacy of Yoga and its methods is a sine qua non for its successful practice. Such faith is needed in achieving success in any line of endeavour but more so in this line because of the peculiar conditions under which the Yogi has to work. In the Divine adventure which he has undertaken the objective is unknown and there are no clearly defined standards by which he can judge and measure his progress. Doubts of various kinds are therefore liable to arise in his mind. Is there really any Reality to be realized or is he merely pursuing a mirage? Are the methods he is using really effective? Are those methods the right methods for him? Has he the capacity to go through all the obstacles and reach the goal? These and other doubts of a similar nature are liable to assail his mind from time to time especially when he is passing through the periods of depression which come inevitably in the path of every aspirant. It is at these times that he needs Sraddha— unshakeable faith in his objective, in himself and in the methods which he has adopted. It may not be possible to avoid these periods of depression and doubt especially in the early stages but it is his behaviour and reaction to them which show whether he has true faith or not. If he can ignore them even though he feels them, he comes out of the shade into the sunshine again and resumes his journey with renewed enthusiasm. If he allows these doubts and moods to interfere with his Sadhana and relaxes his efforts, they acquire an increasing hold on his mind until he is completely side-tracked and abandons the path altogether.

(4) CARELESSNESS: This is another obstacle which besets the path of many aspirants for the Yogic life. It has the effect of relaxing the mind and thus undermines its concentration. Some people are careless by nature and when they come into the field of Yoga they bring their carelessness with them. Carelessness is a weakness which prevents a man from achieving eminence in any line of endeavour and condemns him to a mediocre life. But in the field of Yoga it is not only an obstacle but a great danger and the careless Yogi is like a child who is allowed to play with dynamite. He is bound to do himself serious injury sooner or later. No one should think of treading this path who has not conquered the habit of carelessness and learnt to pay careful attention not only to important things of life but also to those which are considered unimportant.

(5) LAZINESS: This is another habit which results in a distracted condition of the mind. Although it results in the same kind of ineffectiveness in life as in the case of languor it is yet different. It is a bad mental habit acquired by continued yielding to the love of comfort and ease and tendency to avoid exertion. If we may say so, languor is a purely physical defect while laziness is generally a purely psychological condition. A restoration to health automatically cures the former but a prolonged discipline based on the execution of hard and difficult tasks is the only means of curing the latter.

(6) WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS: The worldly man is so immersed in the interests pertaining to his outer life that he does not get time even to think about the real problems of life. And there are many people who pass through life without having ever given any serious thought to these problems. When a person takes to the path of Yoga as a result of the dawning of Viveka and of his becoming alive to the illusions of life the momentum of the past is still behind him and it is not so easy to shut out the interests of the worldly life suddenly and completely. These hankerings after the objects of the world still continue to trouble him and cause serious distraction in his mind. Of course, all depends upon the reality of the Viveka. If we really see the illusions which are inherent in the pursuit of worldly objects like wealth, honour, name etc. then we lose all attraction for them and naturally give up their pursuit. But if the Viveka is not real—is of the pseudo-variety—the result of mere ‘thinking’, then there is constant struggle between the desires which drag the mind outside and the will of the Yogi who tries to make the mind dive within. Thus, worldly-mindedness can be a serious cause of Viksepa.

(7) DELUSION: This means taking a thing for what it is not. It is due generally to lack of intelligence and discrimination. A Sadhaka may, for example, begin to see lights and hear sounds of various kinds during his early practices. These things are very spurious and do not mean much and yet there are many Sadhakas who get excited about these trivial experiences and begin to think they have made great progress. Some think that they have reached high states of consciousness or are even foolish enough to think that they have seen God. This incapacity to assess our supernormal experiences at their proper worth is basically due to immaturity of soul and those who cannot distinguish between the essential and non-essential things in spiritual unfoldment find their progress blocked at a very early stage. They tend to get entangled in these spurious experiences of a psychic nature and are soon side-tracked. It is easy to see that the unhealthy excitement which accompanies such undesirable conditions of the mind will cause great distraction and prevent it from diving inwards.

(8) NON-ACHIEVEMENT OF A STATE: The essential technique of Yoga consists, in the earlier stages, in establishing the mind firmly in the stages of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, and after Samadhi has been attained, in pushing steadily, step by step, into the deeper levels of consciousness. In all these stages change from one state to another is involved and this is brought about by persistent effort of the will. Sometimes this passage is easy and comes after a reasonable amount of effort. At other times the Yogi seems to make no progress and a dead wall appears to be facing him. This failure to obtain a footing in the next stage can cause distraction and disturb the perfect equanimity of the mind unless the Yogi has developed inexhaustible patience and capacity for self-surrender.

(9) INSTABILITY: Another kind of difficulty arises when the Yogi can get a foothold in the next stage but cannot retain it for long. The mind reverts to its previous stage and a considerable amount of effort has to be put forth in order to regain the foothold. Of course, in all such mental processes reversions of this nature are to a certain extent unavoidable. But it is one thing to lose one’s foothold in the next stage because only practice makes perfect and another thing to lose it because of the inherent fickleness of the mind. It is only when the instability is due to the inherent unsteadiness of the mind that Viksepa can be said to be present and special treatment is called for. It should be noted that the nine obstacles enumerated in this Sutra are of a particular type—those which cause Viksepa and thus hinder the Yogi in the practice of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. There can be other kinds of obstacles also. Every serious defect of character can become an obstacle. Karma can place obstacles in the path of the aspirant which make the practice of Yoga for the time being impossible. Attachments to objects, persons or ideas frequently stand in the way of many aspirants taking to the life of Yoga. These different kinds of obstacles are dealt with in their proper places. Defects of character, for example, in the treatment of Yama-Niyama.

The reason why Patanjali has dealt here with this class of obstacles in particular lies, of course, in the fact that this is the Samadhi Pada and he is dealing with all the essential factors involved in understanding this important subject. He gives in this Sutra some idea with regard to the nature of obstacles which cause Viksepa before dealing in eight subsequent Sutras (I-32-39) with the various methods which may be adopted for overcoming this tendency. 

These obstacles are disease, inertia, doubt, heedlessness, laziness, indiscipline of the senses, erroneous views, lack of perseverance, and backsliding.

Iyengar Commentary:

This sutra describes the nine obstacles or impediments which obstruct progress and distract the aspirant’s consciousness.

These obstacles can be divided into physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual:

In I.29, Patañjali indicates that Self-Realization is possible only when consciousness is free from impediments.

Disease, dullness, doubt, carelessness, laziness, sensuality, false perception, failure to reach firm ground and slipping from the ground gained—these distractions of the mind-stuff are the obstacles.

Satchidananda Commentary:

They are more or less like a chain. The first obstacle is physical disease. Disease makes you dull, and a dull mind will doubt everything because it doesn’t want to penetrate into a thing to understand it. When doubt is there, there is a carelessness, a sort of lethargic attitude or laziness. And when the mind loses the interest and alertness toward the higher goal, it has to do something else so it will slowly descend to the sensual enjoyments. Actually, all these things could be summed up as the qualities of tamas, or inertia, dullness.

Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say, “Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me, ” and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has its heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.

Remember, Yoga practice is like an obstacle race; many obstructions are purposely put on the way for us to pass through. They are there to make us understand and express our own capacities. We all have that strength, but we don’t seem to know it. We seem to need to be challenged and tested in order to understand our own capacities. In fact, that is the natural law. If a river just flows easily, the water in the river does not express its power. But once you put an obstacle to the flow by constructing a dam, then you can see its strength in the form of tremendous electrical power.

Disease, mental laziness, doubt, calmness, cessation, false perception, non-attaining concentration, and falling away from the state when obtained, are the obstructing distractions.

SV Commentary:

Disease. This body is the boat which will carry us to the other shore of the ocean of life. It must be taken care of. Unhealthy persons cannot be Yogis. Mental laziness makes us lose all lively interest in the subject, without which there will neither be the will nor the energy to practice. Doubts will arise in the mind about the truth of the science, however strong one’s intellectual conviction may be, until certain peculiar psychic experiences come, as hearing, or seeing, at a distance, etc. These glimpses strengthen the mind and make the student persevere. Falling away when attained. Some says or weeks when you are practising the mind will be calm and easily concentrated, and you will find yourself progressing fast. All of a sudden the progress will stop one day, and you will find yourself, as it were, stranded. Persevere. All progress proceeds by rise and fall. 

Now what are the obstacles that distract the mind ? How many are they and what is their nature ? ‘ Disease, &c.’ There are nine obstacles causing distraction to the mind. These exist with mental modifications. In their absence they do not exist. The mental modifications have been described before.

Disease is the disturbance of the equilibrium of the humours, chyle and the organs of the body.

Langour is the indisposition of the mind to work.

Indecision is the notion touching both sides of a question : It might be thus or thus.

Carelessness is want of resort to the means of trance.

Sloth is the inertia of mind and body, consequent upon heaviness.

Sensuality is the desire consequent upon objects of sense having taken possession of the mind.

Mistaken notion is False knowledge.

Missing the point, is the non-attainment of the state of trance.

Instability is the incapacity of the mind to keep iii any state that has been attained, because it becomes stable only when the state of trance has been reached.

These distractions of the mind are designated the enemies and the obstacles of Yoga.

~ Rāma Prasāda translation.