vṛttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭākliṣṭāḥ
“There are five varieties of mind waves which are either miserable or non-miserable.”
In material consciousness, non-miserable is mistaken for happiness. Think about that. According to what Patañjali is noting here, there is no happiness in the material world, only intermittent non-misery. This somewhat harsh reality is confirmed in many places in both Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam wherein these miseries (kleśa) are classified into three categories:
adhyātmika - miseries pertaining to the body and mind
adhibhautika - miseries pertaining to the difficulties imposed by society, community, nation and other living entities
adhidaivika - miseries inflicted upon us by natural disturbances from earthquakes, famines, droughts, floods, epidemics
These are the three-fold miseries of material existence.
"Actually the living entity does not take birth nor does he die, but he has to fight with the stringent laws of material nature throughout the entire span of his lifetime. He must also face different kinds of miserable conditions. Despite all this, the living entity, due to illusion, thinks that he is well situated in sense gratification."—SB 4.27.16, Purport
In his younger days my spiritual master Śrīla Prabhupāda was a follower of Mahātmā Gandhi. Many years after Gandhi’s assassination he wrote:
“Material plans for material happiness have no value, but under the spell of the illusory energy we consider them extremely valuable. There were many politicians, social reformers and philosophers who died very miserably, without deriving any practical value from their material plans. Therefore, a sane and sensible man never desires to work hard under the conditions of threefold miseries, only to die in disappointment.”—SB 7.13.31, Purport
"So we cannot violate the laws of God, or dharma. Then we'll be punished. The punishment is there, awaiting, by the laws of nature. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). The laws of nature is to punish you. So long you are not Krishna conscious, the laws of nature will go on punishing you -- three kinds of miserable conditions: ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika. This is the law. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). You are thinking independent, but that is not the fact. We are dependent, completely dependent on the laws of nature. And laws of nature means laws of God.’—Śrīla Prabhupāda Lecture, Vrindavan, September 4, 1975
(This is an excerpt from Sravaniya’s Basic Yoga Sutras: The Inner Practice available through Amazon at the link below.)
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