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.

hetu - cause, cause of; motive; reason forphala - fruit; consequence, effect; result; retribution (good or bad), gain or loss, reward or punishment, advantage or disadvantageāśraya - correspondence; that to which anything is annexed, or with which anything is closely connected, or on which anything depends or rests; substratumālambana - supporting, resting onsaṃgṛhītatvā - connection; held togethereṣām - of these; of themabhāva - non-appearance, non-existence, absencetat - that, this

Commentaries and Reflections

Commentary by TKV Desikachar:

“What factors promote favourable Saṃskāra?”

“Everything we do has an origin.”

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 Karmāśaya. Similarly, Pain or Duḥkha leaves aversion again a Karmāśaya. Then what happens? I act (Karma) 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 Maya 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.”