3.38 · The King Bee Rises

By loosening the cause of bondage and knowing the mind's pathways, the mind can enter another body.

Word by word

bandha-kāraṇa

the cause of bondage

śaithilyāt

from loosening

pracāra

movement, pathways

saṃvedanāt

from knowing

ca

and

cittasya

of the mind

para-śarīra

another's body

āveśaḥ

entering

Where it fits

After the warning, the list resumes with powers of the subtle body. When the karma that binds mind to body is loosened, as Vyāsa explains the cause (p. 266), and the mind's pathways are known, the mind can enter another body. 3.39–3.40 turn to the currents of breath.

Reading

After the warning of 3.37, the list resumes with powers of the subtle body. The sūtra says only 'the cause of bondage'; Vyāsa identifies it as karma. His image is of bees: when the king bee flies up, the rest follow, and the senses follow the mind in the same way, as at 2.54. Later legends tell such stories, most famously of Śaṅkara. Traditional commentary takes the claim literally; many modern readers set it aside or read it as an image. One way to read it today: the mind is not welded to the body.

Vyāsa

“…the yogi draws the mind out of his own body and places it in other bodies. And the senses follow the mind once it is placed there. Just as bees fly up after their king when he flies up …, so the senses follow the mind as it enters another body.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 266.

Practice

In one conversation today, listen so fully that for a minute you see the matter from the other person's side, in their terms, with their worries. Then come back to your own view and notice what has changed in it.

A question to sit with

Whose side of things have you never stood in?

Key ideas

karma (action and its residue), siddhi (powers), citta (the mind-field)