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 ||
व्यास उवाच—नवनीतं यथा दध्नः काष्ठादग्निर्यथैव च। तथैव विदुषां ज्ञानं पुत्र हेतोः समुद्धृतम्॥ यदूर्ध्वं पादतलयोर्वा अधो मूर्ध्नश्च पश्यति। एतस्मिन्नेव कृत्ये तु वर्तते बुद्धिरुत्तमा॥
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.