Īśvara is a special Puruṣa, untouched by afflictions, actions, their fruits, and latent impressions.

Patañjali defines Īśvara by negation — describing what it is not:

• Kleśa — The five afflictions (ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, fear of death)
• Karma — Actions and their karmic consequences
• Vipāka — The fruits or results of actions
• Āśaya — The latent impressions stored within

While the individual puruṣa is temporarily associated with these factors due to avidyā, Īśvara has never been and will never be limited by them. It is eternally free, the model of what each being truly is in essence but has forgotten.