Kleśa

The five afflictions (kleśas) according to the Yoga Sūtras (2.3): ignorance (avidyā), ego (asmitā), attachment (rāga), aversion (dveṣa), and fear of death (abhiniveśa). Root of suffering.

Avidyā is the root of all the others — the confusion between the permanent and impermanent, pure and impure, pleasure and pain, Self and non-Self. Its destruction through viveka is the path to kaivalya.

Kleśas can be dormant (prasupta), attenuated (tanu), intercepted (vicchinna), or active (udārā). Sustained practice of kriyā-yoga (tapas, svādhyāya, īśvarapraṇidhāna) progressively weakens them until they can be eliminated through deep meditation. In the Bhagavad Gītā, kleśa appears as the affliction of saṃsāra.