AT Kamarpukur I have seen the mongoose living in its hole up in the wall. It feels snug there. Sometimes people tie a brick to its tail; then the pull of the brick makes it come out of its hole. Every time the mongoose tries to be comfortable inside the hole, it has to come out because of the pull of the brick.
Such is the effect of brooding on worldly objects that it makes the yogi stray from the path of yoga. (20)
THOSE WORTHLESS THINGS!
BODY and wealth are impermanent. Why go to take so much trouble for their sake? Just think of the plight of the Hatha yogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only—longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.
There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to his palate. He looked like a man in Samadhi. He became completely inert and remained so a long time. People came to worship him. After several years, his tongue suddenly returned to its natural position, and he became conscious of things as before. So he went back to his work as before.
These are physical things and have nothing to do with God. There was a man who knew eighty two postures and talked big about yoga-samadhi. But inwardly he was drawn to 'woman and gold'. Once he found a bank-note worth several thousand rupees.
He could not resist the temptation, and swallowed it, thinking he would get it out somehow later on. The note was got out of him alright, but he was sent to jail for three years. (21)