स्वरसवाही विदुषोऽपि तथारूढोऽभिनिवेशः ॥२.९॥
पदविभाग: स्व-रस-वाही, विदुषः, अपि, तथा, आरूढः, अभिनिवेशः।
अन्वय: स्वरसवाही तथा आरूढः अभिनिवेशः विदुषः अपि (भवति)।
प्रतिपदार्थ: स्व-रस-वाही = flowing by its own essence / self-sustaining / carrying its own momentum (स्व = own, रस = essence/flavor/momentum, वाही = flowing), विदुषः = of the wise / of the learned scholar, अपि = even, तथा = in the same way (as it does in the ignorant), आरूढः = firmly established / deeply rooted / riding upon, अभिनिवेशः = the clinging to life / the fear of death / the will to live.
तात्पर्यम्: Flowing through its own nature, clinging to life (Abhiniveśa) is deeply rooted even in the most learned, exactly as it is in the ignorant.
Further context on the 60th Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras
In this context, the clinging to life refers to the instinctual fear of death. It is the inherent will to survive that takes hold the very moment we are born. This explains exactly why we arrive in this world already carrying a set of preordained fears, such as the fear of heights, the fear of the dark, or an immediate aversion to anything that poses a physical threat to our existence.
This clinging to life operates entirely on its own terms. It does not require an external trigger to exist. Instead, it functions as a constant, low-frequency hum running quietly in the background of the human nervous system. In yogic philosophy, this self-sustaining fear is actually considered direct evidence of reincarnation.
A newborn infant will instinctively shrink from a sudden drop or a loud noise, despite having absolutely no experiential knowledge of death or injury in this current life. Yoga argues that this instinct is a deep, primordial Samskara. It is a latent impression carried over from the trauma of countless previous deaths.
Instinct, in this framework, is defined as involved reason. This implies that in past lives, whether through the material body or the long journey of the soul, we have experienced these exact fears coming alive. That survival experience has now been permanently recorded into the evolutionary code of life itself.
The underlying logic here is that all knowledge comes from direct experience. If we are born with few natural instincts like hunger, the need for sleep, and the fear of death, these mechanisms are functioning to ensure our continued existence. Therefore, this instinctual knowledge must have been recorded, tested, and refined over thousands of lifetimes.
Because reason cannot possibly exist without prior experience, all instinct is ultimately the result of past experience. It is the exact same logic that explains why a duckling, the very moment it is born, immediately knows how to swim.
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