Yogasutra – Part 2 – Sādhana-pāda – Yoga and its Practice – Verse 2.4   «   »

Yogasutra – Part 2 – Sādhana-pāda – Yoga and its Practice – Verse 2.4   «   »

अविद्या क्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्ततनुविच्छिन्नोदाराणाम् ॥ २.४॥

avidyā kṣetramuttareṣāṃ prasuptatanuvicchinnodārāṇām .. 2.4..

4. Ignorance is the productive field of all these that follow, whether they are dormant, attenuated, overpowered, or expanded.

Commentary on Sri Patanjali Yogasutra by Swami Vivekananda

Ignorance is the cause of egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life. These impressions exist in different states. They are sometimes dormant. You often hear the expression “innocent as a baby,” yet in the baby may be the state of a demon or of a god, which will come out by degrees. In the Yogi, these impressions, the Samskaras left by past actions, are attenuated, that is, exist in a very fine state, and he can control them, and not allow them to become manifest. “Overpowered” means that sometimes one set of impressions is held down for a while by those that are stronger, but they come out when that repressing cause is removed. The last state is the “expanded,” when the Samskāras, having helpful surroundings, attain to a great activity, either as good or evil.


Yogasutra – Verse 2.4 – Yogasutra-2.4-avidyā kṣetramuttareṣāṃ – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Translation, Meaning and Commentary by Swami Vivekananda – Yogasutra-2-4