If we really have a big problem with this mind, most of the time, it is Vikalpa. Kalpa means a thought formation. Sankalpa means a well-planned thought. Vikalpa means all kinds of thoughts finding their way into the mind in the absence of a proper thought construction or alertness of mind.
Maharishi Patanjali says that this Vikalpa follows the knowledge gained by what we hear, in the absence of the object or person about which something is said. Hearing need not necessarily means what is heard through the ears when someone else speaks or some sound is produced outside. Most of the time, we are listening to our own thoughts. Listening and acting upon one thought leads us to a series of thoughts and actions—solidifying the Vikalpa or in simple terms mental mess. Following Pramana and Viparyaya, Vikalpa is the third faculty of the mind. The mind is just like a toggle switch. Each time the same mind can function with one faculty or the other. When it sees something and grasps it, it becomes the understanding mind. At another time, the same mind can have a distorted vision, leading to misunderstanding.
Vikalpa is imagining something which is not following sounds and words one is hearing or has heard before. The misunderstanding in the case of Viparyaya is a distorted vision. In the case of Vikalpa it is a doubt, uncertainty, indecision, hesitation, suspicion, contrivance, artfulness or a dilemma, caused by what one has heard. Many a time, our first impression of a person may get distorted if we have heard something unpalatable told about him/her by another. The opinion may change when we get to know the person more.
This can be seen most with children. If the child has heard a fake roaring sound of a lion, in a dark room, where it cannot see anything, it will hear the roar of a lion and cry, imagining a lion to be there.
Vikalpa is a function of the mind, negative when it gets anxious, imagining situations which are not and perceiving people different from what they actually are. A wife who is anxiously waiting for her husband to return home from office imagines some mishap if he is a little late, for instance.
The other end of Vikalpa is Sankalpa or creating a positive affirmation. This is a commonly practised self-improvement technique to create an image of a desired situation or goal and work for it to happen. A student who wants to become a doctor can create the image of becoming one in his or her mind and work to make that ideal a reality.
Vikalpa denotes the imaginative and creative faculty of the mind. This creativity is naturally born out of an incomplete understanding and has to be cautiously monitored. If a student is preparing for an examination, it is helpful for him to make the right Sankalpa about successful results in the exam, well ahead and work towards it. If the student has not been studying and there is no proper Sankalpa, it will only lead to Vikalpa on the day before the exam where all kinds of imaginary failures will loom large in his mind screen. —Swahilya Shambhavi
(www.swahilya.blogspot.com)