Shloka 20
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
तस्मिन्नुपरते5जो5स्य पीतशब्त्र: प्रकाशते । ऊर्णारूपसवर्णस्य तस्य रूप॑ प्रकाशते
tasminn uparate 'jo 'sya pītaśastraḥ prakāśate | ūrṇārūpasavarṇasya tasya rūpaṃ prakāśate ||
Vyāsa said: When even that radiance (tejas) has subsided, what becomes manifest is the Wind, called “the Devourer of weapons,” for it seems to have swallowed up all the other powers. Then the yogin experiences only the all-pervading movement of air in the open sky. And his own form is perceived as exceedingly subtle—like a filament of wool—light, minute, and as though unsupported, abiding together with the wind in the vastness of space.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
As meditation deepens, the yogin experiences a progressive dissolution of grosser supports (like the fire/radiance principle), until only the subtle movement of vāyu in ākāśa is apprehended. The practitioner’s sense of self also becomes extremely subtle and non-attached—‘unsupported’—illustrating vairāgya (dispassion) and the inward turning away from material foundations.
Vyāsa describes a contemplative state in which tejas subsides and vāyu alone appears as dominant, metaphorically ‘having swallowed’ the other powers. The yogin perceives pervasive air in the sky and regards his own form as minute and light like a wool filament, existing along with the wind in open space.