Understanding the Kleshas (Obstacles)
Jack UtermoehlThe five Kleshas are Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dvesha and Abhinivesha. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, these are afflictions that disturb perception and bind us to patterns of suffering. They are usually translated as ignorance, mistaken self-identification, attachment, aversion and clinging to life. Understanding the Kleshas begins with noticing how these tendencies shape everyday reactions.
What are the five Kleshas?
The Sanskrit klesha means an affliction or troubling condition. Patanjali names the five in Yoga Sutra 2.3, then explores them in Sutras 2.4 through 2.9. Translators use slightly different English words; the core point is to study causes of confusion, reactivity and suffering rather than to diagnose other people.
| Klesha | Common translation | Question for reflection |
|---|---|---|
| Avidya | Ignorance, misperception | What am I misunderstanding? |
| Asmita | I-am-ness, misidentification | What identity am I clinging to? |
| Raga | Attachment to pleasure | What result am I demanding? |
| Dvesha | Aversion to pain | What am I resisting? |
| Abhinivesha | Clinging to life, fear of loss | Where does fear narrow my choices? |
1. Avidya: Ignorance or misunderstanding
Avidya is more than lacking information. In the Yoga Sutras, it includes mistaking impermanent conditions for permanent ones and confusing what is not the Self with the Self. Patanjali describes Avidya in Sutra 2.4 as the field in which the other Kleshas develop.
In practice, notice when a conclusion about yourself or another person feels absolute. The useful question is whether you have enough information to justify it. Svadhyaya, or self-study, gives that inquiry a place in practice.
2. Asmita: Mistaken identification
Asmita refers to identifying the instruments of experience with the witnessing Self. In ordinary teaching language, it can be explored through the roles we hold too tightly. For example, when a difficult pose threatens the identity of being an advanced yogi, a simple learning moment can become a struggle.
Recognizing this pattern need not eliminate healthy self-respect. It invites you to notice that your abilities, preferences and roles do not contain the whole of who you are.
3. Raga: Attachment to pleasure
Raga describes attraction toward an experience remembered as pleasurable. Enjoyment itself is an ordinary part of life; the affliction arises when wanting becomes binding. A practitioner might insist that every meditation session reproduce yesterday's calm or every class deliver a new accomplishment.
Try returning to the process of practice. Ask whether the wish for a particular result has made it difficult to appreciate what is actually happening.
4. Dvesha: Aversion to pain
Dvesha is the tendency to reject or turn away from what has brought pain. It is often paired with Raga because our attention can be captured by both attraction and avoidance. A disagreement, an unpleasant memory or the discomfort of being new at something can all provide opportunities for reflection.
Yoga practice does not require enduring pain or unsafe conditions. Respecting physical boundaries and leaving harmful situations are sound choices. The question concerns how automatic aversion can cloud judgment, not whether everyone must tolerate discomfort.
5. Abhinivesha: Clinging to life
Abhinivesha is commonly described as a deep attachment to continued existence or fear of death. The Sutras treat it as a powerful and pervasive tendency, including among knowledgeable people. Its modern use in a yoga class requires care, particularly for students who have experienced trauma, bereavement or anxiety.
An accessible inquiry is to consider how uncertainty affects your decisions. There is no need to force contemplation of death in a general class or to promise that yoga practice will remove fear.
What is the root of the Kleshas?
In Yoga Sutra 2.4, Avidya is called the ground of the other four afflictions. This makes misunderstanding foundational to the framework. It also means that working with the Kleshas involves learning to see experiences accurately, not merely suppressing unwanted feelings.
How to work with the Kleshas in daily yoga
- Notice a recurring reaction. Perhaps a challenging posture, a canceled plan or a disagreement makes you unusually reactive.
- Name the possible pattern. Is there misunderstanding, identity, grasping, aversion or fear involved?
- Question the assumption. What happened, and what have you added through interpretation?
- Choose a small response. Adjust the pose, ask a question, write a reflection or return to steady breathing.
- Review gently. The Kleshas are studied over a lifetime rather than conquered in one class.
Our yoga journaling prompts and mindfulness questions offer ways to continue this inquiry.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Kleshas a clinical model of mental illness?
No. They belong to the classical philosophical and contemplative system of the Yoga Sutras, not to modern diagnostic psychology.
Is Abhinivesha only fear of death?
Fear of death is a common translation, but clinging to life and attachment to continued existence capture additional nuance.
How do the Kleshas relate to the Gunas?
The three Gunas describe qualities of prakriti. The Kleshas identify afflictions in Patanjali's analysis of suffering. These frameworks interact within yoga philosophy without being identical.
1 comment
🙏🏻 thank you