Shloka 21

Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

पयस्यन्तर्तितं सर्पिर्यद्वन्निर्मथ्यते खजै: । शुक्र निर्मथ्यते तद्धत्‌ देहसंकल्पजै: खजै:

Transliteration

payasy antarhitaṃ sarpir yadvan nirmathyate khajaiḥ | śukraṃ nirmathyate tadvad deha-saṅkalpajaiḥ khajaiḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“正如藏于乳中的酥油以搅拌杵搅动而析出，男子之精亦如是：当身体被身内的想象与诸根的挑动——如见女子、触女子——所‘搅动’时，精便被激发而外泄。此教诫在于明了：欲望乃由接触与心之构作机械般地产生，故当摄护诸根与其心。”

Word by Word

• पयसि: in milk
• पयसि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पयस्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अन्तर्हितम्: hidden (within)
• अन्तर्हितम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्तर्हित
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• सर्पिः: ghee
• सर्पिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्पिस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वत्: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वत्

• निर्मथ्यते: is churned out/extracted by churning
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्मथ्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• खजैः: by churn-sticks/churning rods
• खजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: खज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• शुक्रम्: semen
• शुक्रम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुक्र
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• निर्मथ्यते: is churned out/extracted
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्मथ्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• तद्वत्: so/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्+वत्

• देहसंकल्पजैः: by those born of bodily intentions/mental constructs in the body
• देहसंकल्पजैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देह-संकल्प-ज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• खजैः: by churn-sticks (metaphorically: agitators)
• खजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: खज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• milk (payas)
• ghee (sarpiḥ)
• churning-stick (khaja)
• semen (śukra)
• women (striyaḥ, implied by the prose gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Desire and sexual discharge are not random; they are ‘churned out’ by saṅkalpa (mental ideation) and by sensory contact. Therefore, ethical discipline requires guarding the senses and regulating thought, so that agitation does not arise and self-mastery is preserved.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and conduct, Bhīṣma uses a vivid household metaphor—extracting ghee from milk by churning—to explain how the mind and senses can agitate the body and bring forth semen, warning against indulgent seeing/touching that fuels passion.