Shloka 17
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
नावेदविदुषे वाच्यं तथा नानुगताय च । नासूयकायानृजवे न चानिर्दिष्टकारिणे
nāvedaviduṣe vācyaṃ tathā nānugatāya ca | nāsūyakāyānṛjave na cānirdiṣṭakāriṇe || indriyāṇi nara pañca ṣaṣṭhaṃ tu mana ucyate | saptamīṃ buddhim evāhuḥ kṣetrajñaḥ punar aṣṭamam ||
Vyāsa said: One should not impart this teaching to a person who is not truly learned, nor to one who is undisciplined and does not follow the path. Nor should it be taught to the envious, the crooked-minded, or one who acts without being properly instructed. In a human being there are five sense-faculties; the sixth principle is called the mind (manas). The seventh is said to be the intellect (buddhi), and the eighth again is the knower of the field (kṣetrajña).
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches two linked points: (1) sacred or subtle knowledge should be given only to a qualified recipient—one who is disciplined, non-envious, straightforward, and guided by instruction; (2) the human constitution can be analyzed as five senses, mind as the sixth, intellect as the seventh, and the conscious knower (kṣetrajña) as the eighth—highlighting the hierarchy from sensory experience to inner discernment and finally to the witnessing self.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vyāsa lays down a rule of transmission (who should or should not be taught) and then states a doctrinal enumeration of the inner principles of a person—senses, mind, intellect, and the kṣetrajña—framing the discussion as a disciplined teaching meant for suitable students.