- Abhinivesa is the strong desire for life which dominates even the learned
(or the wise).
The last derivative of Avidya is called Abhinivesa. It is generally translated as
desire for life or will-to-live. That every human being, in fact every living creature,
wants to continue to live is, of course, a fact with which everyone is familiar. We
sometimes see people who have nothing to gain from life. Their life is one long drawn-
out misery and yet their attachment to life is as great as ever. The reason for this ap-
parent anomaly is, of course, that the other four Klesas which result in desire for life
or Abhinivesa are in full operation even in the absence of unfavourable external cir-
cumstances.
There are two points in this Sutra which require some explanation. First, that
this strong attachment to life which is universal is well established even in the learned.
One may expect ordinary people to feel this attachment but a wise man at least who
knows all about the realities of life may be expected to sit lightly on life. But as a mat-
ter of fact, this is not so. The philosopher who is well versed in all the philosophies of
the world and knows intellectually all the deeper problems of life is as much attached
to life as the ordinary person who is ignorant about these things. The reason why
Patanjali has pointed out this fact definitely lies perhaps in his intention to bring to the
notice of the would-be Yogi that mere knowledge of the intellect (Vidusah here really
means the learned and not the wise) is in itself inadequate for freeing a man from this
attachment to life. Unless and until the tree of Klesas is destroyed, root and branch, by
a systematic course of Yogic discipline the attachment to life in smaller or greater de-
gree will continue in spite of all the philosophies we may know or preach. The would-
be Yogi, therefore, places no reliance on such theoretical knowledge. He treads the
path of Yoga which alone can bring freedom from the Klesas.
The second point to be noted in this Sutra is contained in the phrase Sva-
rasavahi which means sustained by its own inherent force or potency. The universality
of Abhinivesa shows that there is some constant and universal force inherent in life
which automatically finds expression in this ‘desire to live’. The desire to live is not
the result of some accidental development in the course of evolution. It seems to be an
essential feature of that process. What is this all-powerful force which seems to under-
lie the current of life and which makes every living creature stick to life like a leech