Text 26]
Satī Quits Her Body
139
to keep the body fit, for it is the spirit soul that keeps the body always fresh. As soon as the spirit soul is out of the body, the material body immediately begins to decompose. Any spiritual process keeps the body fit without separate endeavor, but if one takes it that the ultimate aim of  yoga  is to maintain the body, then he is mistaken. The real perfection of  yoga  is elevation of the soul to a higher position or the liberation of the soul from material entanglement. Some  yogīs  try to elevate the soul to higher planetary systems where the standard of life is different from that of this planet and where the material comforts, life span and other facilities for self-realization are greater, and some  yogīs  endeavor to elevate the soul to the spiritual world, the spiritual Vaikuṇṭha planets. The  bhakti-yoga  process directly elevates the soul to the spiritual planets where life is eternally blissful and full of knowledge; therefore  bhakti-yoga  is considered to be the greatest of all  yoga  systems.
TEXT 26
एवं स्वदेहं महतां महीयसा 
    गुहुः समारोपितमङ्गमादरात् । 
    जिहासती दक्षरुषा मनस्विनी 
    दधार गात्रेष्वनिलाग्निधारणाम् ॥२६॥
evam sva-deham mahatām mahīyasā  
 muhuḥ samāropitam aṅkam ādarāt  
 jihāsatī dakṣa-ruṣā manasvinī  
 dadhāra gātreṣv anilāgni-dhāraṇām
evam —thus;  sva-deham —her own body;  mahatām —of the great saints;  mahīyasā —most worshipful;  muhuḥ —again and again;  samāropitam —seated;  aṅkam —on the lap;  ādarāt —respectfully;  jihāsatī —wishing to give up;  dakṣa-ruṣā —due to anger towards Dakṣa;  manasvinī —voluntarily;  dadhāra —placed;  gātreṣu —on the limbs of the body;  anila-agni-dhāraṇām —meditation on the fire and air.
TRANSLATION
Thus, in order to give up her body, which had been so respectfully and affectionately seated on the lap of Lord Śiva, who is worshiped by great sages and saints, Satī, due to anger towards her father, began to meditate on the fiery air within the body.