Chapter III · Śloka 38
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च ।
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ॥
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् ॥
dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśo malena ca |
yatholbenāvṛto garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛtam ||
yatholbenāvṛto garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛtam ||
As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo is enveloped by the womb, so this is covered by that.
Krishna offers three vivid analogies of graduated concealment — smoke barely veiling fire, dust thickly coating a mirror, and the womb completely encasing an embryo — to illustrate how desire obscures wisdom with varying degrees of density. The Self (wisdom) is ever present but hidden by the veil of desire to greater or lesser degree.