Avoidable Pain - YS - II - 16, YS II - 17

Yoga Sutra II-16 - HEYAM DUHKHAM ANAGATAM - Pain that has not yet come is avoidable

From the book "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, for this sutra says that the karma "which we are creating now - 'the pain which is yet to come' - can be avoided." They are saying this can be done not by ceasing to act but by not having a desire or attachments to our actions. "If we can dedicate the fruits of actions to God, we will gradually unwind the wheel of karma and thus avoid its pain."

Yoga Sutra II- 17 - DRASTR DRSYAYOH SAMYOGO HEYA HETUH - The cause of that avoidable pain is the union of the Seer (Purusha) and see (Prakriti, or Nature).

Swami Satchidananda states "First, Patanjali tells us the reason for this pain." Its cause is the union of the Seer and the seen. Yoga philosophy speaks of two important things: one is the Purusha, the other is the Prakriti. The Purusha is the true Self." The Prakriti is who sees and is everything else. Swami Satchidananda tells us that this is our dilemma in that we are always identifying with what is seen (with what we possess). In other words uniting the two as one. He says that as the Self all things are possessed by us. The dilemma is pointed out in an example of saying the body is slim as opposed to saying "I" am slim. The question is who is slim? "This identification with other things is the cause of all our pain." If we realize this then the changing of things and circumstances will never cause us pain because we know that these occurrences is not who we really are.


Swami Satchidananda ends the commentary telling us to "Stay in your true Self" and that "You are the knower." The key here is to realize "Who is the loser?" No matter what we will realize that we are still here, we didn't lose ourselves.