vitarka

(Sanskrit, thought conception; Pāli, vitakka). In Buddhist psychology the initial application of the mind to its object. It is defined as the mind laying hold of the object of thought and directing attention towards it. Closely associated with vitarka, and usually following it, is vicāra or ‘discursive thought’. The relationship between the two is said to be like taking hold of a bowl in one hand and scrubbing it with the other, to the striking of a bell and its resounding, or to the fixed point of a compass and the revolving point which moves around it. Both vitarka and vicāra are eliminated from the mind in the early stages of transic meditation (dhyāna).