Just as salt dissolved in water becomes one with it, so when the Ātman and the mind become one, that is called samādhi.

This verse offers one of the most beautiful and accessible definitions of samādhi. The metaphor of salt dissolved in water is profound:

• The salt does not disappear; it remains present in the water
• However, it can no longer be separated or identified as an independent entity
• The water and salt have become indistinguishable

Similarly, in samādhi the individual mind (manas) dissolves into the universal Self (Ātman). The mind is not destroyed; it expands until it coincides with consciousness itself.

Sāmyaṃ bhajati — “attains equality/unity.” This union is not a fusion of two separate things, but the recognition that the separation was illusory from the beginning.

This definition contrasts with Patañjali’s definition (yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ), offering a more affirmative perspective: it is not just cessation, but union.