Shloka 5
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
भूगुरुवाच समिधामुपयोगान्ते यथाग्निर्नोपलभ्यते । आकाशानुगतत्वद्धि दुर्ग्राह्मो हि निराश्रय:,भगुजीने कहा--मुने! समिधाओंके जल जानेपर अग्निका नाश नहीं होता। वह आकाशमें अव्यक्तरूपसे स्थित हो जाती है, इसलिये उसकी उपलब्धि नहीं होती; क्योंकि बिना किसी आश्रयके अग्निका ग्रहण होना अत्यन्त कठिन है
bhṛgur uvāca samidhām upayogānte yathāgnir nopalabhyate | ākāśānugatatvād dhi durgrāhyo hi nirāśrayaḥ ||
Bhṛgu said: “Just as, when the fuel-sticks have been consumed at the end of their use, fire is no longer perceived, so too it is not apprehended because it has passed into the sky, remaining unmanifest. For fire, having no support, is exceedingly difficult to grasp.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the metaphor of fire disappearing when fuel is consumed to teach that a subtle principle can become unperceivable without being destroyed. When it lacks an external support (āśraya), it is difficult to apprehend—pointing toward the unmanifest nature of subtle reality (often applied to the Self or subtle elements).
In a didactic exchange among sages, Bhṛgu explains a philosophical point through an everyday example: after the kindling is burnt up, fire is not seen, not because it is annihilated, but because it has become unmanifest in space and cannot be grasped without a supporting medium.