Patañjali named this fear in the Yoga Sūtras. He never claimed the practice removes it. That’s the whole point of calling it clinging.
What it says
You’ve meditated for years, and you’re still afraid to die.
The clinging to life, flowing entirely by its own momentum, is what he calls abhiniveśa.
Break the word apart and you get three pieces: sva, your own; rasa, momentum; vāhī, flowing.
The verse is specific: this grips even the wise, the learned, not just beginners starting out.
It names the fear precisely but never claims the practice removes it.
This is Decoded, where one Sanskrit word gets unpacked until the definition actually holds.
Sources
Yoga Sūtras 2.9 · tr. Vivekananda
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Narration and illustrations are AI-generated. Every claim is sourced above.
