Just as salt dissolves in unity with water, so the union of the Self and the mind is called samādhi.

This verse uses a classic analogy from Indic traditions.Salt (lavaṇa) dissolved in water (jala) loses its separate form but does not cease to exist.It becomes one with the water;Each drop contains salt although it is no longer visible as a distinct crystal.

In the same way, ātma-manasaḥ aikyam — the union of the Self (ātman) and the mind (manas) — is samādhi.The individual mind dissolves into universal consciousness.It is not annihilation: the mind, like salt, now pervades a wider field.

The Bihar School elaborates this metaphor: before dissolution, salt and water are distinguishable;Afterwards, they are inseparable but not identical (salt water has different properties from pure water).In the same way, the mind dissolved in Being retains its functional capacity but loses its sense of separation.The yogi can think, perceive, act — but no longer from an isolated “I.”All mental activity occurs in and as the Self.