ते प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः सूक्ष्माः ॥२.१०॥
पदविभाग: ते, प्रतिप्रसव-हेयाः, सूक्ष्माः।
अन्वय: ते सूक्ष्माः (क्लेशाः) प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः (भवन्ति)।
प्रतिपदार्थ: ते = they / those (the five afflictions: Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dvesha, Abhinivesha), सूक्ष्माः = in their subtle state / the subtle ones, प्रतिप्रसव = by reverse evolution / by resolving back into their causal source / involution, हेयाः = are to be destroyed / overcome / abandoned.
तात्पर्यम्: Those subtle afflictions are to be destroyed by resolving them back into their original cause (reverse evolution).
Further context on the 61st Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras
The only reason we seek more goodness in life is that our true conscious being naturally aligns with the good. It is only the conscious mind that possesses the power to oppose or destroy the reactionary waves constantly forming within the Chitta. This is why there is such a heavy emphasis in Indian philosophy on responding rather than reacting. The ultimate goal of Yoga is to first gain complete conscious control over our body and mind, and then to surpass them entirely.
At a practical level, this requires deep vigilance. Every single time these kleshas obstruct our practice, we must identify them and trace them all the way back to their origin in Avidya, or spiritual ignorance. Once we locate that root, we must flood that dark space with the light of pure consciousness.
The word प्रतिप्रसव (Pratiprasava) is a highly technical term in both Samkhya and Yoga philosophy, and understanding it requires looking at two distinct phases of existence.
- प्रसव (Prasava), or evolution: This represents the outward flow of creation. Ignorance gives birth to the Ego. The Ego then gives birth to Attachment and Aversion, which ultimately manifest as physical actions and human suffering in the material world.
- प्रतिप्रसव (Prati-prasava), which means involution: To truly destroy an affliction, you cannot simply fight it at the surface level. You must reverse engineer the mind. You have to consciously dissolve the effect back into its original cause.
You trace your anxiety or aversion back to the Ego, and you trace that Ego back to fundamental Ignorance. Finally, you trace the mind itself all the way back into the unmanifest root nature, known as Alinga, which we explored back in Sutra 1.45. When the mind fully dissolves back into its unmanifest source, the subtle seeds of the Kleshas are permanently burned up in the fire of pure consciousness.
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