What is "vitarka"

Vitarka (Sanskrit, also vitarkah; Pali: vitakka; Tibetan phonetic: tokpa) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "conception", "application of thought", etc. In the Theravada tradition, it is defined as the mental factor that mounts or directs the mind towards an object. In the Mahayana tradition, vitarka is defined as a mental factor that investigates things roughly.

Vitarka is identified as:

• One of the six occasional mental factors within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
• One of the four changeable mental factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
• The first of four or five mental factors that arises in the first dhyana (Pali: jhana)
• A mental factor that counteracts the hindrance of sloth and torpor ( thina-middha) within the five hindrances