He who hates mental difficulty and bodily difficulty increases hatred; he himself attains the greatest difficulty born of useless effort.

Vasiṣṭha exposes the trap of rejection. One who dveṣṭi—hates, rejects—mental or physical kaṣṭa (distress), does not eliminate it but rather vardhayati (increases) it. Dveṣa (aversion) is an accelerator of kaṣṭa: it turns difficulty into trauma. That which is āyāsa-sambhava—born of useless striving—is paramaṃ kaṣṭa (the greatest distress) because it is self-generated: it does not come from the world, but from resistance to the world.

This is the central paradox of karma-yoga: to struggle against difficulty strengthens it; to accept it dissolves it. This is not passive resignation but active karma-yoga: action without aversion to the result. Dveṣa toward mental pain generates avoidance; avoidance generates phobia; phobia contracts life. Dveṣa toward bodily pain generates hypochondria, unnecessary medication, terror of death. The remedy is not to love pain, but to cease hating it, to stop investing energy in its rejection.

Vasiṣṭha exposes the trap of rejection. One who dveṣṭi — hates, rejects — mental or physical kaṣṭa (distress), does not eliminate it but rather vardhayati — increases it. Dveṣa (aversion) is an accelerator of kaṣṭa: it transforms difficulty into trauma. That which is āyāsa-sambhava — born of useless striving — is the paramaṃ kaṣṭa (ultimate distress) because it is self-generated: it does not come from the world, but from resistance to the world. This is the central paradox of karma-yoga: to struggle against difficulty strengthens it; to accept it dissolves it. This is not passive resignation but active karma-yoga: action without aversion to the result.

Dveṣa toward mental pain generates avoidance; avoidance generates phobia; phobia contracts life. Dveṣa toward bodily pain generates hypochondria, unnecessary medication, terror of death. The remedy is not to love pain, but to cease hating it, to stop investing energy in its rejection.