Making the Ātman the lower fire-stick, and meditation the upper spindle, by the friction of knowledge the flame is kindled, and having their sins consumed by it, they become immortal.

The image of the araṇi (fire-sticks for kindling sacred fire) describes the process of realization. Ātman is the lower stick (receptive), meditation (dhyāna) is the spindle of friction, and jñāna (knowledge) is the movement that generates the spark. In our yoga practice, this reminds us that technique is important, but is only the means; the real fire is knowledge that consumes impurities (pāpa) not by punishment but by its own luminous nature. Amṛtatva (immortality) is not eternal life in time but discovery of the timeless.