Sutra 24 from Patanjali’s Yogasutras

क्लेशकर्मविपाकाशयैरपरामृष्टः पुरुषविशेष ईश्वरः ॥ २४॥

पदविभाग: क्लेश-कर्म-विपाक-आशयैः, अपरामृष्टः, पुरुष-विशेषः, ईश्वरः। 

अन्वय: क्लेशकर्मविपाकाशयैः अपरामृष्टः पुरुषविशेषः ईश्वरः । 

प्रतिपदार्थ: क्लेश = afflictions (ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, clinging to life), कर्म = actions (and the binding laws of cause and effect), विपाक = the fruits / ripened results of those actions, आशयैः = and the latent impressions / the deep storage of desires, अपरामृष्टः = completely untouched / totally unaffected, पुरुष-विशेषः = a special / distinct Soul (Purusha), ईश्वरः = Ishvara

तात्पर्यम्: Ishvara (the Supreme Ruler) is a distinct Purusha (Soul) who is completely untouched by afflictions, actions, the fruits of actions, or desires.

Further context on the 24th Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras

The Ishvara in Yogasutras is not God as in the Creator of the Universe. It’s in the Vedas that we see Ishvara as the Creator of the Universe. In the Samkhya-Yoga framework, there are countless individual souls (Purushas). What makes this one so special then?

Ordinary souls (like us) get entangled in the machinery of Nature (Prakriti). Even liberated yogis are souls who were once entangled but fought their way out. Ishvara is the only Purusha who was never bound in the past, is not bound in the present, and will never be bound in the future.

The verse is talking about an absolute sense of freedom. Patanjali states that Ishvara is utterly immune to the four qualities that lead to human suffering:

1. क्लेश (Kleśa – Afflictions): The root causes of misery. Ishvara has no Avidya (ignorance) or Asmita (ego). Ishvara never mistakes the physical world for reality.
2. कर्म (Karma – Actions): Because we have ego, we act with desire, creating binding karma (good or bad). Ishvara acts, but without any personal motive, leaving behind no karmic dues.
3. विपाक (Vipāka – Ripened Fruits): Karma eventually ripens into results. It dictates our species, lifespan, and the amount of pleasure or pain we experience in a lifetime. Ishvara is immune to this cycle of life and death.
4. आशय (Āśaya – The Storehouse): This refers to the deep subconscious reservoir where our unfulfilled desires (samskaras) are stored, waiting to sprout whenever the conditions are right. Ishvara has no such deep-seated desire.

Patanjali introduces Ishvara specifically because the human mind needs a focal point. You cannot easily meditate on your own soul because your ego will immediately try to claim it. By meditating on Ishvara, you focus on a consciousness that is already proven to be perfect and ego-less.