Shloka 4
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
नश्यतीत्येव जानामि शान्तमग्निमनिन्धनम् | गतिर्यस्य प्रमाणं वा संस्थान वा न विद्यते
naśyatīty eva jānāmi śāntam agnim anindhanam | gatir yasya pramāṇaṃ vā saṃsthānaṃ vā na vidyate ||
ಭರದ್ವಾಜ ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಇಂಧನವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಶಾಂತವಾದ ಅಗ್ನಿಯನ್ನು ನಾನು ನಾಶವಾದದ್ದೆಂದೇ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತೇನೆ; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಯಾವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಗತಿಯೂ ಇಲ್ಲ, ಪ್ರಮಾಣವೂ ಇಲ್ಲ, ನಿಶ್ಚಿತ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯೂ/ಆಕಾರವೂ ಇಲ್ಲ—ಅದನ್ನು ನಾಶವಾದದ್ದೆಂದು ಮಾನಲೇಬೇಕು. ಜೀವದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯೂ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bharadvāja argues from a perceptual-empirical standpoint: when something’s motion, measurable extent, and form are no longer apprehended—like a fuel-less extinguished fire—it is taken as destroyed; he applies this analogy to claim that the jīva too should be considered annihilated when its observable marks are absent.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical dialogue, Bharadvāja presents a reasoning-based position using the example of an extinguished fire to support the view that the living being ceases when its perceptible indicators cannot be found.