3.51 · The Gilded Invitation

When invited by those in high places, do not be drawn in or flattered, for unwanted consequences may return.

Word by word

sthāni

those in high places

upanimantraṇe

when invited

saṅga

attachment, being drawn in

smaya

pride, a self-satisfied smile

akaraṇam

not doing

punaḥ

again

aniṣṭa

unwanted

prasaṅgāt

because of the return of

Where it fits

With 3.37, the pāda's second warning, set right after the summit. Vyāsa says the gods invite the yogi at the 'honeyed' stage of truth-bearing wisdom (1.48), and that heedlessness, the pramāda of 1.30, waits for any pride (p. 285–286). The next sūtras return to discernment.

Reading

With 3.37, this is the chapter's great warning. Vyāsa makes those in high places the gods, and gives their invitation in full: sit here, rest here, take this elixir against old age, this chariot that flies. The yogin should remember how hard the lamp of yoga was to find, and that the winds of the senses' objects, born of craving, are its enemies. Nor should he feel flattered to be wanted. Vyāsa pictures Heedlessness, pramāda, watching for exactly that opening. One way to read this today: the invitations are platforms, praise and influence.

Vyāsa

“'Only with great difficulty have I found the lamp of yoga, which destroys the darkness of the afflictions. And these winds of the senses' objects, born of craving, are its enemies.' … Not giving way to attachment, let him not take pride either, thinking, 'So I am wanted even by the gods.'”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 286.

Practice

The next time you are praised or invited somewhere flattering, pause for one breath before you answer. Ask, 'What would this cost my practice, my time, my honesty?' Then answer, yes or no, without the glow.

A question to sit with

Which invitation is flattering you right now?

Where commentators disagree

Which yogin do 'those in high places' tempt?

Vyāsa

Of the four kinds of yogin, it is the one who has reached the second, 'honeyed' stage (madhumatī) whom the gods invite, offering pleasures, an elixir, a flying chariot. He should reflect on the faults of pleasure and take no pride in being wanted. (Woods 1914, pp. 285–286)

Vācaspati Miśra

Argues by elimination: the beginner cannot be invited, the third already has such powers, and the fourth, having the higher non-attachment, is far from any attachment. So only the second remains. (Woods 1914, p. 287)

Bhoja

Makes the fourth kind, the one who has passed beyond the objects of meditation and is realising the last, 'honeyed' stage, the one the deities allure with nymphs and elixirs. (Tatya 1885, p. 136; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 3.51)

Key ideas

siddhi (powers), vairāgya (non-attachment), antarāya (obstacles)