Be Careful of Pride YS III - 52

Yoga Sutra III- 52- STHANYUPANIMANTRANE SANGA SMAYAKARANAM PUNAR ANISTA PRASANGAT - The Yogi should neither accept nor smile with pride at the admiration of even the celestial beings, as there is the possibility of his getting caught again in the undesirable.

Swami Satchidananda translated sutra 52 without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood:

" 'The invisible beings in high places' are the fallen yogis already referred to (I,19) who have reached the state of disincarnate gods or become merged in the forces of Nature. Such beings have failed to find liberation precisely because they yielded to temptation of the psychic powers. " We are told that "The great Hindu teachers all believe that a yogi's spiritual development might be interfered with by external forces - by the disincarnate gods, by beings on the psychic or subtle place of matter, or by earthbound spirits. And this belief is symbolized in the traditional Hindu ritualistic worship,". (This is described in the commentary which is not not covered in this is post.)

We are told "Up to a certain point, temptation increases with spiritual growth. As the aspirant ceases to be a mere beginner and gains some mystical experience, his personality becomes magnetic. He finds that he can exert psychological power over others, and also sexual attraction. At the same time, his own senses grow keener and more capable of enjoyment." This is where it becomes easy to get caught up in power and sex relationships and thus forgets his original purpose. "The very people who are drawn to him because of his godlike quality they see in his nature may be the ones who are most responsible for his gradual alienation from God."

Finally we are informed that "no one who seeks Brahman ever comes to an evil end." If such a lapse takes place, it is believed that the spiritual aspirant will eventually get back on the path.

See related post:

Rebirth - YS I-19

Rebirth - YS I-19

Yoga Sutra I- 19 - BHAVAPRATYAYO VIDEHA PRAKRTILAYANAM - Those who merely leave their physical bodies and attain the state of celestial deities, or those who get merged in Nature, have rebirth.

Swami Satchidananda exlplains this sutra to us saying if we die after practicing a little samprajnata samadhi, Patanjali is telling us that we do not lose all the benefits of the practice. Wherever ever we have stopped, or gained mastery over nature, we will go on to become one of the controllers of nature. "Such people are called videhas." Videha in the glossary of "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" translated and commented by Swami Satchidananda is defined as "bodiless".

Examples of dying mastering:

• the gross elements (without going to the subtler ones) makes one the controller of the gross elements of nature.
• the very depth of nature makes one become the Master of Nature. " Such people are called the siddha purushas, or the gods who control the different phenomena - Indra, Varuna, Agni and so on, according to the Hindu names."

Whatever level, we have to come back and study further and get liberated. It's like going to a university. If you drop out temporarily, you don't get a degree. You have to go back to get the degree. You go to a certain point and get into a higher abode and control nature, but the seeds of desires and attachment are still there. "That is why even gods have to become human beings." It is only in the human being level that there is a possibility of liberation. Swami Satchidananda said that "The gods are just human beings who have evolved a little further and learned to control nature and , by that control, have earned the enjoyment of certain pleasures in the heavens. But, after that , they come back" . So the cycle of birth and death will continue until all the seeds of desire get burnt and they become completely liberated by knowing themselves.

This is definitely food for thought. Stay tuned.