Foundations · Reading
The five kleshas
The five afflictions that Patanjali says cause suffering.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
Philosophy
Klesha means affliction. Patanjali names five as the causes of suffering.
Avidya is ignorance, mistaking the impermanent for the permanent and the non-self for the self. Asmita is the sense of I, identifying with the mind. Raga is attachment to pleasure; dvesha, aversion to pain. Abhinivesha is the clinging to life that, he says, is present even in the wise. Avidya is the field from which the other four grow, and practice weakens them all.
Terms
- Avidya
- Not seeing truly.
- Asmita
- The sense of I.
- Raga
- Attachment.
- Dvesha
- Aversion.
- Abhinivesha
- Clinging to life.
Further reading
- Yoga Sutras 2.3
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, p. 3
- Patanjali, Yoga Sutras, 2.3