Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 9

स्वरस्वाहि विदुषोऽपि समारूढोऽभिनिवेशः ॥९॥

sva-rasa-vāhī viduṣaḥ api samā-rūḍhaḥ abhiniveśaḥ ||9||

The will to stay alive is a continuous self-disposition;
equally springing up, even in the wise person.

sva - own; one's selfrasa - disposition; flavour; any object of taste; a tastevāhī - continuousvidvāṃs - wise personapi - even, also, very; something more; moreoversamā - equal, constant; fair, impartial towards; like to or identical withrūḍha - springing up; grown, produced fromabhiniveśa - tenacity; the will to stay alive, survival instinct, clinging to life, fear of death, instinctive clinging to worldly life and bodily enjoyments and the fear that one might be cut off from all of them by death
<<< >>>

Commentaries and Reflections

Commentary by T Krishnamacharya:

“Abhiniveśā is the extra-ordinary instinctive urge to survive at any cost.
No one is spared.
In a way it is a dislike about one’s death.”

“There are essentially three causes for fear….
desire, disease and death.”

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

“Fear and Insecurity feed on the leftovers
from the meals of past experiences.”

“Yoga is about looking inwards,
at what we fear most.
Rather than looking outwards,
at what we desire most.”

“We can build
bridges of fear,
or we can build
bridges over fear.
The choice is ours.”