18/06/2026
33. vitarka-bādhane pratipakṣa-bhāvanam
३३. वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३३॥
When disturbing thoughts arise, they should be countered by cultivating their opposites.
vitarka: discursive thoughts, coarse mental reflections
bādhane: when they obstruct, disturb, or interfere
pratipakṣa: the opposite, the contrary
bhāvanam: conscious cultivation, intentional contemplation or meditation
When the yogi has not yet stabilized liberating insight, it is natural for negative thoughts to arise.
Patañjali does not advise suppressing them. Rather, he teaches that they should be recognized and transformed.
The method he presents is straightforward: when a harmful mental pattern emerges, the mind should be deliberately directed toward its opposite.
Just as an antidote neutralizes a poison, love dissolves hatred, compassion dissolves cruelty, awareness of impermanence dissolves attachment, and wisdom dissolves ignorance.
This process is not merely intellectual, but experiential. To meditate on the opposite means to embody it, allowing it to transform the very quality of the mind.
Yogi Dharmadhara Vajra
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