This text was written for the European Yoga Congress in 2026
From Pratipakṣa-bhāvanam technique of the Yoga Sūtra to the dharmic actions of the Bhagavad Gita
by Joana Neves de Oliveira
In various texts of the Yoga tradition, we find lists of moral failings (dosha) or internal enemies of the mind on the path to spiritual realization.
In the Yoga Sūtra II.34, speaking about mental content (vitarka) that go against the yama and niyama and lead to ignorance and suffering, Patanjali focuses on only three of the emotions most frequently mentioned in these contexts: lobha (‘greed’), krodha (‘anger’) and moha (‘delusion’). These can be interpreted here as the seeds of improper states of mind.
To deal with these inappropriate thoughts and emotions, Patanjali gives us a precious tool that can be understood and put into practice on different levels: pratipakṣa-bhavanam, the cultivation of the opposite or, in a more literal translation, to develop and to become the other wing of that thought.
Pratipakṣa-bhāvanam consists of encouraging the mind to experience thoughts and emotions that are in harmony with the Dharma instead of inappropriate ones, bringing forth, within a person’s energetic makeup, an emotion that is diametrically opposed to the one he/she is currently experiencing.
We return to the root emotions mentioned by Patanjali to see what we find on their reverse side. On the opposite side of lobha we find both yama asteya and aparigraha and the nyama santoṣa and also dānam, a virtuous attitude described at the end of Bhagavad Gita as a manifestation of tyāga, abandonment. On the opposite side of krodha we find peace, compassion, kindness, tolerance, forgiveness… but also tapas, since we can transmute the energy generated by anger into determination for spiritual practice. On the opposite side of moha there is the light of wisdom, which requests clear consciousness (buddhi) and yajña, the sacrifice of ourselves, of who we think we are. So we come to realize that each of the three emotions highlighted by Patanjali finds a counterpoint in the three dharmic actions described in the Bhagavad Gita as expressions of tyāga, abandonment: danam, tapas and yajñam. Pratipakṣa-bhavanam leads to tyaga at the same time that it is nourished by the sattvic manifestations of tyāga.
Pratipakṣa-bhāvanam technique presupposes therefore a change in the quality and functioning of the mind. Incorporating the opposite of what we are feeling leaves the taste (rasa) of that opposite thought. There is a cleansing character inherent in this practice, of progressive transmutation/sublimation of our nature (sva bhāva) from rajas and/or tamas to sattva. It is not merely a matter of replacing thoughts and emotions. It is the incorporation of the energy of these new ones. So prānāyāma plays a key role here.
It is also a cleansing process since it helps us to eliminate vāsanās and deconstruct samskāras that lie ahead on our path. So it’s usefull in the process of self-knowledge and expansion of consciousness, that is the path of yoga.
It is very important to note that pratipakṣa-bhāvanam technique does not involve fighting against inappropriate thoughts or ignoring them by pasting a diferent one over it. That wouldn’t make them disappear, and they would manifest themselves in some way or another — perhaps even in a pathological form. It is necessary to courageously make use of them, rather than be subject to them. It is necessary to accept them with an equanimous mind, to taste their rasa to the point of their disintegration, letting them gradually reintegrate into their source, mūla prakriti.
In the empty space left, there is room for sattvic thoughts and emotions seeded to flourish. And they can also be nourished and strengthened by the dharmic attitudes that shape the concept of tyāga. In the opposite direction of a path grounded in mental content born of greed, anger, and delusion, this path will lead to knowledge and happiness and will allow us to taste the rasa of the primordial emotion, that is śānti, peace.
