Shloka 21
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
पयस्यन्तर्तितं सर्पिर्यद्वन्निर्मथ्यते खजै: । शुक्र निर्मथ्यते तद्धत् देहसंकल्पजै: खजै:
payasy antarhitaṃ sarpir yadvan nirmathyate khajaiḥ | śukraṃ nirmathyate tadvad deha-saṅkalpajaiḥ khajaiḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «كما يُستخرج السمن (ghee) الكامن في اللبن بخضّه بعصا الخضّ، كذلك يُستثار المنيّ ويُستخرج من جسد الرجل حين يُـ“خَضّ” بتخيّلات الجسد وبمثيرات الحواس—كرؤية النساء ولمسهنّ. والعبرة أن يُدرَك كيف تُنتَج الشهوة على نحوٍ آليّ بفعل الملامسة وبناء الذهن، ومن ثم تُكفّ الحواس ويُضبط العقل.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire and sexual discharge are not random; they are ‘churned out’ by saṅkalpa (mental ideation) and by sensory contact. Therefore, ethical discipline requires guarding the senses and regulating thought, so that agitation does not arise and self-mastery is preserved.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhīṣma uses a vivid household metaphor—extracting ghee from milk by churning—to explain how the mind and senses can agitate the body and bring forth semen, warning against indulgent seeing/touching that fuels passion.