He who thus knows the Ātman, even if he makes his clay body into ashes, the gods know him as Brahman.

A surprising affirmation: even one who “makes ashes” of his body —perhaps through negligence or extreme austerity— if he knows the Ātman, is recognized by the devas as Brahman. Knowledge is all that matters; bodily treatment is secondary. In our yoga practice, this liberates us from physical obsession: the body is mṛṇmayī (of clay), temporary, but whoever knows it from the consciousness of Ātman is eternal. The gods “know” this sage as what he really is: not a body, but Brahman itself.