Shloka 18
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
तथा देहाद् विमुक्तस्य पूर्व रूपं भवत्युत । अथ धूमस्य विरमे द्वितीयं रूपदर्शनम्
tathā dehād vimuktasya pūrva-rūpaṃ bhavaty uta | atha dhūmasya virame dvitīyaṃ rūpa-darśanam ||
Vyāsa sprach: „So ist dies für den Yogin, der von der Identifikation mit dem Körper frei geworden ist, wahrlich die erste Weise der Erfahrung. Wenn dann der ‚Rauch‘ — der verhüllende Dunst innerer Verwirrung — sich legt, wird die zweite Weise des Schauens erlangt.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation begins with freedom from deha-abhimāna (identifying the Self with the body). As inner obscurations—likened to smoke—fade, clearer and higher realization arises in successive stages.
Vyāsa is describing a graded contemplative experience: first, the yogin’s initial realization after loosening bodily identification; next, a deeper vision that appears when the remaining mental ‘haze’ (dhūma) ceases.