Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 15

अन्तर्वन-विद्यारण्योपमा

The Allegory of the Inner Forest of Knowledge

Devanagari script

प्रज्ञावृक्षं मोक्षफलं शान्तिच्छायासमन्वितम्‌ । ज्ञानाश्रयं तृप्तितोयमन्तःक्षेत्रज्रभास्करम्‌

Transliteration

prajñāvṛkṣaṃ mokṣaphalaṃ śānticchāyāsamanvitam | jñānāśrayaṃ tṛptitoyam antaḥkṣetrajña-bhāskaram ||

Translation

婆罗门说道：“有一处奇妙的内在林苑：其树为智慧，其果为解脱，清凉的寂静之荫遍覆其上。知识为其依止，知足为其甘水；而其中有‘知田者’（自我、我灵）之日照耀，从内而外照明一切。”

Word by Word

• {'prajñā': 'wisdom, discerning intelligence', 'vṛkṣa': 'tree', 'prajñāvṛkṣa': 'the ‘tree’ of wisdom (metaphor for inner cultivation)', 'mokṣa': 'liberation, release', 'phala': 'fruit, result', 'mokṣaphala': 'having liberation as its fruit', 'śānti': 'peace, tranquility', 'chāyā': 'shade, shelter', 'śānticchāyā': 'the shade of peace', 'samanvita': 'endowed with, accompanied by', 'jñāna': 'knowledge (especially spiritual knowledge)', 'āśraya': 'support, refuge, resting-place', 'jñānāśraya': 'having knowledge as its support/refuge', 'tṛpti': 'contentment, satisfaction', 'toya': 'water', 'tṛptitoya': 'water of contentment (that nourishes inner growth)', 'antaḥ': 'within, inner', 'kṣetrajña': 'knower of the field

• the Self/Ātman as the inner witness', 'bhāskara': 'sun, illuminator', 'kṣetrajña-bhāskara': 'the sun-like Self that illumines the inner realm'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (the Brahmin speaker)
• मोक्ष (liberation)
• क्षेत्रज्ञ (the Knower of the Field / Ātman)
• प्रज्ञा (wisdom)
• ज्ञान (spiritual knowledge)
• शान्ति (peace)
• तृप्ति (contentment)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Inner liberation is portrayed as an organic growth: wisdom is the tree, peace is its shade, knowledge is the sustaining refuge, and contentment is the nourishing water; the Self (kṣetrajña) shines within like the sun, making true understanding possible.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker delivers a contemplative instruction using a forest/tree metaphor to describe the inner spiritual domain, emphasizing self-knowledge and tranquility as the path culminating in mokṣa.