Shloka 10
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
अतः सब प्रकारके संकल्पोंका नाश करके चित्तको सूक्ष्म बुद्धिमें लीन करे। इस प्रकार बुद्धिमें चित्तका लय करके वह कालपर विजय पा जाता है ।।
cittaprasādena yatir jahātīha śubhāśubham | prasannātmā ātmani sthitvā sukham atyantam aśnute || rūpaṃ cakṣur vipākaś ca tridhā jyotir vidhīyate | raso 'tha rasanā sneho guṇās tv ete trayo 'mbhasaḥ ||
Vyāsa said: By the serenity and clarity of mind, the striving ascetic abandons in this world both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ as binding opposites. Established in the Self with a tranquil inner being, he partakes of the highest, unsurpassed happiness. Form, the eye, and digestion are three expressions of the principle of light (fire); taste, the tongue, and bodily unctuousness are three expressions of the principle of water—thus the sage understands the elements and becomes free from attachment to sensory functions.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purity and serenity of mind (citta-prasāda) enables the seeker to transcend attachment to merit and demerit as binding dualities, remain established in the Self, and experience the highest happiness; sensory functions are understood as elemental operations (fire/light and water), reducing identification and craving.
In Vyāsa’s instruction within Śānti Parva’s liberation-oriented discourse, the focus shifts from external action to inner discipline: the ascetic refines the mind, relinquishes evaluative clinging to ‘good/bad’ outcomes, and contemplates how perception and bodily processes arise from elemental principles.