Shloka 8
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
तस्मिन् नष्टे शरीराग्नौ ततो देहमचेतनम् | पतितं याति भूमित्वमयनं तस्य हि क्षिति:
tasmin naṣṭe śarīrāgnau tato deham acetanaṃ | patitaṃ yāti bhūmitvam ayanaṃ tasya hi kṣitiḥ ||
Bharadvāja dit : «Quand le feu du corps s’éteint, le corps devient insensible ; tombant à terre, il prend l’état de l’élément terre, car la terre est bien son lieu de repos et son support. (Selon cet enseignement sur la dissolution des éléments à la mort, le corps retourne à sa base élémentaire.)»
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the elemental dissolution of the body: when the sustaining bodily fire ceases, the body loses consciousness and returns to its material basis—earth—highlighting impermanence and the distinction between the self and the perishable body.
Bharadvāja is explaining what occurs at death in terms of the elements: the bodily fire is extinguished, the body becomes inert, falls to the ground, and is said to become 'earth' because earth is its support and final resting-place.