Shloka 14
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
धमखियानेषु सर्वेषु सत्याख्याने च यद् वसु । दशेदमृक्सहस्राणि निर्मथ्यामृतमुद्भुतम्
vyāsa uvāca | dharmākhyāneṣu sarveṣu satyākhyāne ca yad vasu | daśedam ṛk-sahasrāṇi nirmathyāmṛtam adbhutam | yathā kūrma ihāṅgāni prasārya viniyacchati | evam evendriya-grāmaṃ buddhiḥ sṛṣṭvā niyacchati |
ヴィヤーサは言った。「ダルマを説くあらゆる物語、真理を掲げるあらゆる記述の中で、これこそが精髄の宝である。これは『リグ・ヴェーダ』一万の詩句を攪拌して得られた、驚くべき甘露である。亀が肢を伸ばしては引き込むように、知（buddhi）もまた、諸根の群れを外へと—対象へと—差し向け、そして再び制して引き戻す。かくして自己を制することこそ、ダルマと真理の心髄であると示される。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the essence of dharma and truth is inner mastery: the intellect should be able to deploy the senses when needed and withdraw them from sense-objects, like a tortoise drawing in its limbs.
Vyāsa presents a distilled ‘nectar’ of teaching—claimed as an essence extracted from vast Vedic material—and illustrates it with a vivid simile: the tortoise’s withdrawal becomes a model for disciplined control of the senses by buddhi.