Shloka 18
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
श्लाघधिने श्लाघनीयाय प्रशान्ताय तपस्विने
cakṣur ālocanāyaiva saṁśayaṁ kurute manaḥ | buddhir adhyavasānāya sākṣī kṣetrajña ucyate ||
The eye is meant only for seeing; it is the mind (manas) that raises doubt. The intellect (buddhi) is meant for decisive determination. That inner witness is called the Knower of the Field (kṣetrajña).
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sense-organs merely present perceptions; doubt arises in the mind, while decisive understanding belongs to the intellect. Beyond both stands the inner witness, termed the kṣetrajña, the conscious knower of experience.
Vyāsa continues an instruction in Śānti Parva on inner discernment: distinguishing the roles of sense-perception, mental wavering, intellectual resolve, and the deeper witnessing self (kṣetrajña) that observes them.