Tasam anaditvam casiso nityatvat.

Tasam = of them; anaditvam = no beginning; ca = and; asisah = desire to live; nityatvat = eternal.

And there is no beginning of them, the desire to live being eternal. (IV-10)

The cause and effect relation of our desires and subsequent karmas is the reason we get entangled in the cycle of birth and death. The question arises how this cycle began? The wise says we should not ask this question. This question is like the unanswerable classic question of seed and tree, which was the first?

The great saga Patanjali says the desire to survive is the original desire. And that desire cannot be traced out just as you cannot trace out the beginning of a circle. It is anadi, eternal, without any beginning.

The great saga Patanjali says the desire to survive is the original desire. And that desire cannot be traced out just as you cannot trace out the beginning of a circle. It is anadi, eternal, without any beginning.

What is important for a sadhaka, is that he can bring an end to the cycle of birth and death by overcoming avidya, The Great Illusion.