क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो ...

Patanjal Yoga-Sutra :

sadhanapad - 12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20

पातञ्जल योगसूत्र : साधनपाद - १२-१३-१४-१५-१६-१७-१८-१९-२०

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क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः।।१२।।

(क्लेशमूलः कर्म-आशयः दृष्ट-अदृष्ट-जन्मवेदनीयः।।)

The आशय /aggregate of कर्म / karma is कर्माशयः / karmAshayaH. Here 'karma' is imperative of happening and not the action done by some agent like a कर्ता / kartA.

दृष्ट -conspicuous / known अदृष्ट -inconspicuous / unknown. of the : जन्मवेदनीयः the birth, that is to be taken as known or unknown, because no one ever knows for certain if / when one is / was born. Birth is therefore an idea only not the experience, known or unknown.

According to The ब्रह्मसूत्र / Brahmasutra :

अधिकरण १, अध्याय १, प्रथमः पादः सूत्र २ : 

जन्माद्यस्य अतः ।।२।।

(जन्म आदि अस्य यतः।)

जन्म  - birth or the beginning , अस्य - of this being, or the existence, - manifest or not so manifest यतः because of.

Evidently, whatever is meant by being born / having one's own birth is though not known, no one can deny this fact while alive!

The जन्म / birth is therefore a consequence only of a chain of successive कर्म / events.

सतिमूले तद्विपाको जात्यायुर्भोगाः।।१३।।

(सति मूले तत्-विपाकः जाति आयुः भोगः।।)

Because of the birth, after getting born, one is of the kind जाति of the organism / specie, one has to live आयु / the span of life, and has to go through the भोगः / the various pleasant or unpleasant experiences in life. 

ते ह्लादपरितापफलाः पुण्यापुण्यहेतुत्वात्।।१४।।

(ते ह्लाद-परिताप-फलाः पुण्य-अपुण्य-हेतुत्वात्।।)

जाति the birth, आयु the life-span, and the भोग / are the cause of the various pleasant or the  painful experiences, they are because of the पुण्य / auspicious good or अपुण्य / inauspicious. evil  कर्म karma / deeds / actions. 

परिणामतापसंस्कारदुःखैर्गुणवृत्तिविरोधाच्च दुःखमेव सर्वं विवेकिनः।।१५।।

Accordingly for the wise all they - the birth, the life-span and the experiences all these are misery क्लेश / Klesha only. They are the cause of the agony, tormenting tendencies. Because of having all these contradicting गुण / attributes, wise see them as misery क्लेश / Klesha.

(परिणाम ताप संस्कार दुःखैः गुणवृत्ति विरोधात् च दुःखं एव सर्वं विवेकिनः*।।)

(*विवेकिनः -

विवेकी विवेकिनौ विवेकिनः।१

विवेकिनं विवेकिनौ विवेकीः।२

विवेकिना विवेकिभ्याम् विवेकिभिः।३

विवेकिने विवेकिभ्याम् विवेकिभ्यः।४

विवेकिनः विवेकिभ्याम् विवेकिभ्यः।५

विवेकिनः विवेकिनोः विवेकीनाम्।६

विवेकिनौ विवेकिनोः विवेकिषु।७)

हेयं दुःखमनागतम्।।१६।।

(हेयं दुःखं अनागतम्)

A wise man however could avoid all those evils, that are, the हेय - that need to be kept away, the  misery, क्लेश / Klesha and all such that if ignored, may be there in the future. 

द्रष्टृदृश्ययोः संयोगो हेयहेतुः।।१७।।

(द्रष्टृ-दृश्ययोः संयोगः हेयहेतुः।।)

The हेय / agony, misery, and क्लेश / Klesha as a consequence are there, when the दृष्टृ / दृष्टा (the observer who is conscious of them), and the  दृश्य (the object / the observed) come into the contact with one-another. 

प्रकाशक्रियास्थितिशीलं भूतेन्द्रियात्मकं भोगापवर्गार्थं दृश्यम्।।  ।।१८।।

(प्रकाश-क्रिया-स्थिति-शीलं भूतेन्द्रियात्मकं भोग-अपवर्ग-अर्थं दृश्यम्।)

दृश्य / the observed is made of the kinds of the elements associated with the attributes like सत्व / प्रकाश / the light, रजस् / क्रिया / the activity mobility, and the तमस् / स्थिति / the state of immobility, inactivity. These three are called the three attributes (गुण)  and are inherent in the दृश्य / प्रकृति / Prakriti / the observed / the Objective Reality, while the दृष्टा is the subject / the observer. The observer is always चेतन / conscious / sentient being, and an aspect of consciousness, while the observed is always  जड / insentient one. 

विशेषाविशेषलिङ्गमात्रालिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि।।१९।।

(विशेष-अविशेष-लिङ्गमात्र-अलिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि।)

The three attributes of प्रकृति / Prakriti have these different and specific qualities, -they are related and connected with one-another, through such links that are though evident in their effect, not so in their action. These links are called  गुणपर्वाणि - the chain that binds the attributes together.

द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः।।२०।।

(द्रष्टा दृशि-मात्रः शुद्धः अपि प्रत्यय-अनुपश्यः।)

The Observer is essentially though ever so pure, is seen always through some चेतन प्रत्यय / दृक् प्रत्यय / वृत्ति / vritti / conscious thought only.

This दृक् प्रत्यय / conscious thought is the वृत्ति / vritti or indeed the very अहं-वृत्ति / ahaM-vritti, itself, that plays the intermediate role of the  subject and thus connects the दृक् / observer (the subject) with the observed, the दृश्य / the object.

To be continued ...

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