Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 11
हेतुफलाश्रयालम्बनैः संगृहीतत्वातेषामभावेतदभावः ॥११॥
hetu-phala-āśraya-ālambanaiḥ saṃgṛhītatvād-eṣām-abhāve tat-abhāvaḥ ||11||
Held together by cause, fruit, correspondence, support,
the non-appearance of these, the non-appearance of that.
Commentaries and Reflections
Commentary by T Krishnamacharya:
Commentary by TKV Desikachar:
“Patañjali says that the problem is fed by internal elements,
by the search for immediate benefits in life,
by external elements and
by the psychic nature of the person.”
“What factors promote favourable Saṃskāra?”
“Everything we do has an origin.”
“There are four ways or pillars in which
the past is triggered and supported
1. Hetu
– Misapprehension or the cause or origin
Difficult to work here
2. Phala
– Attachment to the fruits of actions
Based on the combination of Vāsana,
Saṃskāra and Smṛti fruits have effects
which add to what is already there
3. Āśraya
– The mind has different qualities, hence the
substratum or underlying state of mind
4. Ālambana
– There are different external circumstances.or external stimuli”
“If these four pillars are constantly
reinforced by Vāsana and Saṃskāra.
Which of them is easiest to remove?
1. Hetu –
Cause or origin can’t be easily removed
What influences you is not the cause itself,
but the memory of how you felt at the time.
You have to recognise and respect the cause,
if you want to move forward.
2. Phala –
Fruits may be immediate or long term,
so it’s hard to anticipate them.
3. Ālambana –
Object which provokes Vāsana to move.
May be immediate or cumulative.
Could be even a word.
External influences can be hard to remove.
How can it last when we do so many things?
4. Āśraya –
So the best one to work with is the structure of the mind,
Those forces which affect the impulse of Vāsana.
e.g Guna affecting desire, the power of Saṃskāra.
When they get reduced, Saṃskāra get reduced.”
Commentary by S Ramaswami:
“The entire cycle of rebirth is maintained by Hetu-Phala-Āśraya-Alambanaih.
These four produce subsequent Vāsana, if they are not present then the Vāsana become absent or disappear.
They exist because of the four conditions.
What is the cause?
Kleśa or Avidyā.
From Virtue comes pleasure and from impiety comes pain.
Pleasure leaves a desire which is Karma Āśaya.
Similarly, Pain or Duḥkha leaves aversion again a Karma Āśaya.
Then what happens?
I act to repeat the experience.
Thus the six-spoked wheel of rebirth constantly revolves.
The process above is the cause, these leave Vāsana which come forward in memory.
Until you experience without the desire to repeat it you are subject to Saṃskāra.
This removal of desire only comes with Puruṣa Prakṛti Viveka.
Until this is there, Avidyā dominates and the Citta is sail for it and the resultant Vāsana.
Thus Āśraya is the support or soil and Ālambana are those objects which are required to produce experiences. |i.e. house, family, etc…
All these four sustain Vāsana.
The only way to remove Vāsana is to lose the desire or by taking out the root you remove the cause, the hub:
Avidyā.
These Sūtra are given also as an argument against Buddhism and its ideas of the non-existence of Citta.
The following Sūtra support Sāṃkhya and refute Buddhism, thus the universe is real and made of the three Guṇa in contract to the Māya of Advaita and Śūnya of Buddhism.
Since there is no production of things out of nothing, and also no complete destruction of that which exists, how can subliminal impressions which exist are positive things be eliminated altogether?”
Commentary by Paul Harvey:
“Until you can experience without
the desire to repeat or reject it,
you are subject to the impact of Saṃskāra
or tendencies from the past.”
“Attitude is nothing but an attitude.
If you can change your attitude,
you lay down another Saṃskāra.
The mind learns through habits.
So by changing habits you change the mind.
Yoga is a way of taking steps to initiate change.
Therefore Yoga practice is a Saṃskāra,
to prepare the mind for a different attitude.”
“What is responsible for the staying power of
the Saṃskāra? Many forces arouse Saṃskāra.
However the dominance of Saṃskāra can be
transformed through reducing the four pillars.
In other words, explore what is feeding them.”