The sense objects turn away from one who abstains, but the taste remains. Even this taste disappears upon seeing the Supreme.

This verse illuminates the difference between repression and liberation. Nirāhāra (abstinence) can keep sense objects away, but rasa (the taste, the underlying desire) persists. It’s the difference between “I don’t eat chocolate” and “I don’t desire chocolate.”

Forced repression creates tension; the desire remains latent. Only paraṃ dṛṣṭvā — “upon seeing the Supreme” — does the taste itself naturally dissolve. When something more satisfying is found, the inferior loses its appeal.

In practical terms: dietary or behavioral restrictions imposed by will generate internal resistance. But when practice reveals states of greater fullness, coarse pleasures lose interest spontaneously.

Haṭha Yoga works this way: it doesn’t moralize about “giving up” habits, but offers experiences that make them obsolete. A clean body and clear mind find less attractive what was once irresistible.

Rasa also means “essence” — the teaching suggests that even subtle attachment must dissolve.