वेणुसङ्घर्षजो वह्निर्दग्ध्वा शाम्यति तद्वनम् । एवं गुणव्यत्ययजो देह: शाम्यति तत्क्रिय: ॥ ७ ॥
veṇu-saṅgharṣa-jo vahnir dagdhvā śāmyati tad-vanam evaṁ guṇa-vyatyaya-jo dehaḥ śāmyati tat-kriyaḥ
- veṇu
- of bamboo
- saṅgharṣa-jaḥ
- generated by the friction
- vahniḥ
- fire
- dagdhvā
- having burned
- śāmyati
- is pacified
- tat
- of bamboo
- vanam
- the forest
- evam
- thus
- guṇa
- of the modes of nature
- vyatyaya-jaḥ
- generated by interaction
- dehaḥ
- the material body
- śāmyati
- is pacified
- tat
- as the fire
- kriyaḥ
- performing the same action
In a bamboo forest the wind sometimes rubs the bamboo stalks together, and such friction generates a blazing fire that consumes the very source of its birth, the bamboo forest. Thus, the fire is automatically calmed by its own action. Similarly, by the competition and interaction of the material modes of nature, the subtle and gross material bodies are generated. If one uses his mind and body to cultivate knowledge, then such enlightenment destroys the influence of the modes of nature that generated one’s body. Thus, like the fire, the body and mind are pacified by their own actions in destroying the source of their birth.