DAY 332

Ignorance Is Mistaking the Fleeting for the Eternal

Yoga Sūtra 2.5

기원후 2~4세기(파탄잘리)

ORIGINAL

अनित्याशुचिदुःखानात्मसु नित्यशुचिसुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या (anityāśuci-duḥkhānātmasu nitya-śuci-sukhātma-khyātir avidyā)

📜 THE VERSE

Ignorance is taking the impermanent for the eternal, the impure for pure, pain for pleasure, and the not-self for the Self.

❓ TODAY'S QUESTION

Do I admit that what I clutched as everlasting was really sand slipping through my fingers?

📝Reflection

Patañjali does not leave ignorance as vague "not-knowing" but pins it as four reversed seeings (viparyaya). To see a-nitya (the impermanent) as nitya (eternal), duḥkha (pain) as sukha (pleasure) — this is the root of all suffering. We cling to changing things as if they were forever, and chase brief stimulation as if it were happiness. Its peak is mistaking an-ātman (the not-self) for the self. Ignorance is not a lack of facts but a slipped focus that swaps the fleeting for the true.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

Recall one thing you cling to today and ask quietly: 'is this eternal, or is it passing?'

📖 Source: Yoga Sūtra 2.5. Sanskrit original with public-domain translations consulted; rendered independently by ONGO.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.