Remove the Root, and the Tangle Above It Falls Away
The traces of attachment hang on their cause, effect, and support; when that ground is gone, the traces vanish too.
Do I keep plucking the leaves of suffering while leaving intact the cause that holds it up?
📝Reflection
Hetu means "cause, root," and abhāva means "absence, ceasing." Patañjali closes this chapter with a root principle for governing the mind's tangles — a trace cannot stand alone but always hangs on its cause, effect, and support. Remove that ground, and the trace vanishes of itself. This is deep comfort and wisdom. We wear ourselves out plucking only the leaves of suffering, wrestling this scene and that of resentment. But release the one cause that holds it up, and the many leaves hanging from it fall all at once. A picture on a wall hangs from a single nail; pull the nail and the whole picture comes down. Wisdom is the eye that sees not the leaf but the nail.
🌱Apply It Today
For one recurring suffering today, look past the leaf to find the single 'nail' that holds it up.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
