He who, dwelling in fire, whom fire does not know, whose body is the fire, who controls fire from within —He is your Ātman, the Inner Ruler, the Immortal.

Fire (agni) is the most active of elements, the transformer par excellence. Even so, it does not know the one who inhabits and activates it. In our yoga practice, the inner fire —the *tejas, digestion, vital energy— is governed by the antaryāmin. When we kindle the flame of *agni in our practice, we remember that we are the ones who contemplate the fire, not the fire itself. This distinction is the key to freedom: I am not my metabolism, my energy, my body heat; I am the immortal witness who perceives them.