Shloka 231
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
यदा न रूप॑ न स्पर्शो नोष्मभावश्नल पञज्चके । तदा शान्ते शरीराग्नौ देहत्यागे न नश्यति
yadā na rūpaṃ na sparśo noṣmabhāvaś ca pañcake | tadā śānte śarīrāgnau dehatyāge na naśyati ||
Bharadvāja dit : «Lorsque, dans le complexe quintuple de l’expérience corporelle, il n’y a plus ni forme, ni contact, ni chaleur, alors—le feu du corps étant apaisé—au moment de quitter la dépouille, le soi ne périt pas. Cet enseignement souligne que la mort est un changement d’état du corps et de ses sensations, non la destruction du principe durable qui en est le témoin».
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that when bodily sensations and vital heat cease and the body’s sustaining fire is pacified, the abandonment of the body does not imply the destruction of the self; what ends is the bodily apparatus, not the imperishable witness.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Bharadvāja is presenting a doctrinal explanation about death and the relation between the body’s sensory functions and the enduring self, emphasizing non-perishing at the time of dehatyāga.