Shloka 36

Devanagari script

पुष्पतो मथ्विव रस: काम आशभ्यां तथा स्मृतः । कामो धर्मार्थयोर्योनि: कामश्चाथ तदात्मक:,जैसे फ़ूलसे उसका मधु-तुल्य रस श्रेष्ठ है, उसी प्रकार धर्म और अर्थसे काम श्रेष्ठ माना गया है। काम धर्म और अर्थका कारण है, अतः वह धर्म और अर्थरूप है

Transliteration

puṣpato madhv iva rasaḥ kāma āśrabhyaṃ tathā smṛtaḥ | kāmo dharmārthayor yoniḥ kāmaś cātha tadātmakaḥ ||

Translation

పువ్వులోనుంచి తేనెవంటి శ్రేష్ఠ రసం లభించినట్లే, ధర్మం మరియు అర్థంతో పోల్చితే కామమే శ్రేష్ఠ సారమని స్మరించబడింది. కామమే ధర్మార్థాల యోని/మూలం; అందుచేత అది ధర్మార్థ స్వభావమై కూడా ఉంటుంది.

Word by Word

पुष्पतःfrom a flower

मधु-इवlike honey

रसःjuice, essence

कामःdesire; kāma

अर्थाभ्याम्from/than artha (wealth, purpose) (twofold form used with dharma)

तथाthus, in the same way

स्मृतःis considered/remembered

कामःkāma

धर्म-अर्थयोःof dharma and artha

योनिḥsource, origin, cause

कामःkāma

चand

अथthen, moreover

तदात्मकःhaving their nature; consisting of that (i.e., of dharma and artha)

Speaker

भीमयेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames kāma (desire) as a powerful motivating essence: like honey extracted from flowers, it is presented as the driving source that can generate pursuits of dharma (ethical duty) and artha (worldly welfare). It suggests that human striving for duty and prosperity often arises from underlying desire, so kāma must be understood and governed rather than ignored.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching about the aims of life and their interrelation. Here he uses an analogy (flower and honey) to explain how kāma functions as an inner impetus connected to dharma and artha.