Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 16

हेयं दुःखमनागतम् ॥१६॥

heyaṃ duḥkham-anāgatam ||16||

The suffering not yet come must be overcome.

heya - overcome; to be left or quitted or abandoned; rejected or avoided; to be left or quitted or abandonedduḥkha - suffering, pain, sorrowfulanāgata - not yet come, not come, not arrived

Commentaries and Reflections

Commentary by T Krishnamacharya:

“The way to better oneself is not to ponder over the past but to look ahead.
Even Duḥkha is a great teacher.
In fact it is the first and important step in the ladder of Viveka or clarity.
The greatness of Patañjali is to look at Duḥkha as the stepping stone to success.”

Commentary by TKV Desikachar:

“The only Duḥkha that matters is that which is about to come.
Things that have happened or are happening must be accepted.”

‎”Where there is Duḥkha, there is Avidyā.”

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

“Better to be creators of our future,
rather than curators of our past.”

“In our journey towards foresight
lies the quandary of whether we can
grasp our past sufferings positively,
or be negatively held within their clasp.”

Duḥkha is the Space in the Heart
feeling constricted because of
‘not getting what I want’, or
‘getting what I don’t want’.”