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 ||
Wika ni Bharadvāja: “Kapag napawi ang apoy ng katawan, ang katawan ay nagiging walang-malay; bumabagsak sa lupa at tumatanggap ng kalagayang-lupa, sapagkat ang lupa ang tunay nitong pahingahan at sandigan. (Sa aral na ito tungkol sa pagkalusaw ng mga sangkap sa kamatayan, ang katawan ay bumabalik sa batayang-elemento nito.)”
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.