Text 24
ātmany agnīn samāropya
sannyasyāhaṁ mamātmatām
kāraṇeṣu nyaset samyak
saṅghātaṁ tu yathārhataḥ
ātmani — in one’s self; agnīn — the fire elements within the body; samāropya — properly placing; sannyasya — giving up; aham — false identity; mama — false conception; ātmatām — of the body’s being one’s self or one’s own; kāraṇeṣu — in the five elements that cause the material body; nyaset — one should merge; samyak — completely; saṅghātam — combination; tu — but; yathā-arhataḥ — as it befits.
He should properly place the fire element in his own self and in this way give up bodily affinity, by which one thinks the body to be one’s self or one’s own. One should gradually merge the material body into the five elements [earth, water, fire, air and sky].
The body is an effect of a cause, namely the five material elements (earth, water, fire, air and sky). In other words, one should know perfectly well that the material body is nothing but a combination of the five elements. This knowledge constitutes merging of the material body and the five material elements. Merging into Brahman in perfect knowledge means understanding perfectly that one is not the body but a spiritual soul.