Shloka 15
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
नवनीतं यथा दध्नः काष्ठादग्निर्यथैव च । तथैव विदुषां ज्ञानं पुत्र हेतो: समुद्धूतम्
navanītaṁ yathā dadhnaḥ kāṣṭhād agnir yathaiva ca | tathaiva viduṣāṁ jñānaṁ putra hetoḥ samuddhūtam || yad ūrdhva-pādatayor avāṅ-mūrdhnaś ca paśyati | etasminn eva kṛtye tu vartate buddhir uttamā ||
ヴィヤーサは言った。「我が子よ、凝乳から攪拌して酥（バター）を取り出し、木から火を現すように、同じくこの解脱の教え—真の知を生むもの—は、諸経を攪拌して学者のために抽出された。そして人が身体において『我』と見なす一切—足裏より上、頭頂より下—まさにその働きにおいて最高の知（buddhi）が作動している。身体内の『我』の感覚は、実に知の変容にほかならない。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberating knowledge is not invented but extracted as an essence through disciplined inquiry—like butter from curd or fire from wood. The verse also points to a key psychological insight: the sense of ‘I’ tied to the body is a function (a modification) of buddhi, not the true Self; recognizing this supports detachment and the pursuit of mokṣa.
Vyāsa addresses his ‘son’ (the listener in the discourse) and justifies the mokṣa-śāstra he is presenting: it is distilled from the broader śāstric tradition. He then analyzes embodied self-perception, explaining that the intellect’s activity constructs the body-centered ‘I’-sense.