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 dit : «Lorsque même cette radiance (tejas) s’est apaisée, ce qui se manifeste est le Vent, appelé “Dévoreur d’armes”, car il semble avoir englouti toutes les autres puissances. Alors le yogin n’éprouve plus que le mouvement de l’air, omniprésent, dans le ciel ouvert. Et sa propre forme est perçue comme d’une extrême subtilité — tel un filament de laine — légère, infime, comme sans appui, demeurant avec le vent dans l’immensité de l’espace.»
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.