Shloka 35
Śānti-parva 168: Śoka-nivṛtti-buddhi (The Cognition that Reduces Grief) and Piṅgalā’s Nairāśya
नवनीतं यथा दध्नस्तथा कामोडर्थधर्मत: । श्रेयस्तैलं हि पिण्याकाद् घृतं श्रेय उदश्वित: । श्रेय: पुष्पफलं काष्ठात् कामो धर्मार्थियोर्वर:,जैसे दहीका सार माखन है, उसी प्रकार धर्म और अर्थका सार काम है। जैसे खलीसे श्रेष्ठ तेल है, तक्रसे श्रेष्ठ घी है और वृक्षके काष्ठसे श्रेष्ठ उसका फूल और फल है, उसी प्रकार धर्म और अर्थ दोनोंसे श्रेष्ठ काम है
navanītaṃ yathā dadhnas tathā kāmo 'rthadharmataḥ | śreyas tailaṃ hi piṇyākād ghṛtaṃ śreya udaśvitaḥ | śreyaḥ puṣpaphalaṃ kāṣṭhāt kāmo dharmārthayor varaḥ ||
Just as butter is the essence of curd, so kāma (desire) is the essence of dharma and artha. As oil is superior to oil-cake, as ghee is superior to buttermilk, and as a tree’s flowers and fruits are superior to its mere wood, so kāma is superior to both dharma and artha.
भीमयेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse argues, through everyday extraction metaphors (butter from curd, oil from oil-cake, ghee from buttermilk, fruit from wood), that kāma—desire/pleasure as a human aim—is the most ‘refined’ and motivating outcome among dharma and artha, because it is presented as what makes the other pursuits yield tangible satisfaction.
Within the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Bhīma is depicted advancing a viewpoint about the hierarchy of life-goals (puruṣārthas), asserting the superiority of kāma over dharma and artha, and supporting his claim with persuasive analogies drawn from household and agrarian life.